KVLR
by Tyrant Yoshitsuna
Summary: Out in the world to see it with his very own eyes, starting with Vale's most prominent Academy. After meeting a new friend who shared a common symptom on an airship, new acquaintances seem to come easier. Follows Season 1 with a few bits in between. No pairings as of yet.
1. Trailer K

First of all, this is something the Trailers of RWBY. It's kind of a way for you readers to know this character and what are some of the things that he could do. If you want to start with the story, skip to chapter 2.

On the end of this chapter is the Bio.

To all my Followers: I'm trying to get back into the mood of writing.

* * *

In the dead of the night, where the moon shinning down at the dark forest near the borders of Vale, a teenager strode down the beaten path towards his next destination.

Black leaves fell as the night breeze blew, with each leaf reflecting the light of the only source in the sky. Glowing white moss grew on the bark of every tree, giving off a beautifully surreal experience to any who walked through it. The place had truly earned its name as the Ethereal Forest.

Silver gauntlets glinted under the light of the moon, illuminating the face of the teen as he brushed away a stray black hair above his ebony colored eyes.

The flesh of his fingers touched his near pale face as the armor of his gauntlet stopped after the first knuckle. He picked up the fallen leaf that dropped on the shoulder of his black vest, and at the same time he wondered if there were a few more that had landed in his hood as well. The long white sleeves of his undershirt covered mostly what his vest could not, with it disappearing inside his steel gauntlets and protecting him from the cold of the night.

Black boots stomped on the uneven road with silver steeled shin guards preventing any overgrown weeds from touching the skin beneath it. The silver flame design sewn on the right leg of his pants glinted from the light of the glowing moss around him, starting from within the shin guards above the knee all the way around his hip.

The wind blew again, this time from behind him. The hood of his vest was lifted up slightly as another glint of steel gray reflected off of his back, showing the image of a pale moon wrapped in dark vines of grass, the mark was of his family's, his family that could only be found in a village where civilization rarely stumbles upon.

He was on his way to Beacon Academy, a place known for its outstanding production of Hunters. All of the Hunters famous in Vale all came from that academy, naming it as one of the best institutes for creating Hunters who have the most potential to carve their names into legends.

He was seventeen, and the only reason why he was able to enroll to Beacon was because of one of the Hunters that had stumbled into his village recommended for at least one of them to try learning from outside of their village's combat teachings. He was the lucky one, or unlucky one in other people's view, to have been picked to try this opportunity.

He had already decided that he wanted to explore the world, even before the Hunter suggested Beacon. This was only a four year detour, and being an official Huntsman would probably do him good in the long run. With the blessings of his Parents, Elders and Friends, he was one step closer towards his ambition.

Movements to his left caught his attention; the leaves of the black bushes rustling even after the wind had gone quiet. This world that he resided in was never a safe place. Creatures of the dark that prowled and hunted life dissimilar to them, almost even bringing his kind into the brink extinction.

The Grimm were creatures of destruction, rising at the same time as mankind. Their only purpose was to destroy Humans and all of their creations, but with the discovery of the Dust, mankind was able to drive back the dark creatures.

Dust was now the power that drives the world, it has now become an essential part of Mankind. But not all rely on it, as the teen had learned as he grew.

A growl emanated from behind him, followed by the sounds of multiple footsteps. More growls echoed in the forest. The teen stopped in the middle of the road, turning his head as his eyes scanned the various red eyes veiled in the darkness that glared at him. The Ethereal forest was hardly the best place for the Grimm to hide themselves. The glowing white moss was contrast to their midnight black colors.

Beowolves, one of the many type of monsters of the Grimm. They imitated the likeness of a wolf, padded with a few armors made of bone on various locations of their body, with the difference from a regular wolf was that their bone structure allowed them to stand on their hind legs like a men. Spikes jutted out of their forearms and by their elbows, with claws on their hands that were more like that of man's than the paws of wolf. Their maws were riddled with fangs sharp enough to pierce flesh, and jaws strong enough to break bones. But all of them had one thing in common:

They were there for the ease of kill any Human.

"_**Grrrr….**_**"**

But of course, the teen wasn't just any human.

In this world, there were people capable of killing these monsters, even making a living out of it. They trained themselves for the sole reason of killing the Grimm, and preserving the Peace by eradicating this threat. There are schools, like Beacon Academy, that focuses on teaching prospective teenagers to kill the Grimm.

"_Stand straight, hold your head up high, and show no weakness. As a son of mine, you will show everyone that you are the best."_

A small smile stretched on the teenager's lips as he recalled those words. "Of course, mom. As a son of the family that boasts about their confidence and arrogance, I would never let monsters like these see the sight of my weakness."

The Beowolf in front of the raised its head to the sky and howled to the heavens. As if that had been a queue of the beast, the rest of its kind leapt out of their poorly hidden spots in the forest and charged at the teen.

Two of the beasts flanked him at the sides, the one that gave the signal and appeared to be the leader merely stayed back and watched as its kin jumped and opened its mouth. The wolf aimed for the teenager's throat for a quick and bloody finish, while the other dove low with its claws extended in case the teen managed to dodge the attack.

Blood sped within the teenager's body, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Everything seemed to slow as the beasts came closer and closer to their marks.

"_Stay calm and read you opponents…"_

The words once again played in his mind. This time it was male. His father had been a great teacher when it came to battles. His analytic mind would make up scenarios after scenarios, honing him for the true experience to come. It was that mind that made his mother choose that he was the one. The ferocious power and endurance of his mother's side of the family against the brilliant mind and speed of his father's side of the family. Brain versus Brawn. One would always come out as the victor, but never had there been a deciding factor of which side was better.

Love bloomed from that conflict, and bore the fruit of what he was now.

When the wolf came close enough to the range of his attack, he spun in place, raising one foot off the ground and using his spin to gather power. His leg rose high and above his head, doing a perfect vertical split. His muscles coiled, like a trap set for the beast, he patiently waited for it to come within his range. When he met its eyes, it was then that he snapped the trap into action.

Crunch

One beast found its head crushed under his heel before it could even touch a strip of cloth with its claws. The teen leaned forward, binging his foot flat on the wolf's head, he brought his weight on top of the corpse, balancing his body perfectly on one foot, where he spun and lashed out with his free leg to catch his next target.

Crack

The second beast found its jaw broken when a black boot found its lower jaw and followed through its motions.

"_**AWOOO!"**_

With a howl of pain, the Beowolf writhed on the ground, close to the corpse of its kin. The teen's eyes sought the orbs filled with fury of the leader of the pack. The beast was growling, bending its legs and hunching down.

In return the teenager smiled, removing the foot that crushed the skull of the first wolf, where he stood up on the tip of his toes.

The sounds of gears rattled in the teen's shin guards. Pieces of metal began to split and unfold, covering his legs from half of his thigh downwards. Various parts began to tighten themselves and fitting his shin perfectly. A piece slid under his heel and placed itself firmly in place before he shifted his feet and allowed the rest of the metal to cover his toes. A sound like that of a revving dynamo signaled the end of the transformation, clicking itself into silence.

Earlier, what looked like shin guards were now slick silver, blue highlighted, half calf length, high tech, armored leggings.

He placed one foot on the writhing wolf beside the corpse and, with his new metal covered legs, he pressed down.

Crunch

The pack leader's growl intensified, snarling at the teen even as he removed his foot off of another corpse of a beast.

The teen had ignored it before, but now he could see that the forest was filled with the wolf's kind. Beowolves traveled in packs, usually within the range of ten to twenty, but with particular pack had thirty at the least.

Had he been anyone else, the would have at least faltered in taking this many adversaries, but from the village he hailed from, numbers like these were common. His village had been surrounded by a dense forest, and a mountain range that protected it from the harsh passing of the seasons. Unfortunately, the place was more like a death trap to most humans. With limited choices of escape, his ancestors needed to adapt to the place where they chose to stay.

The teen planted his feet firmly on the ground. Reaching within him, he pulled out what the Humans have discovered after their use of Dust.

Aura, the manifestation of a person's soul. With a finite amount of this self-recovering energy, the Humans could pull feats that were thought to be impossible: wounds would heal faster, senses would become heightened, a layer of it could protect them from an attack, and even power their own attacks for a more devastating effect.

Along with it came Semblance, an ability that manifests after the activation of a person's Aura. Effects vary from each individual, as they represent an aspect of a person's character, which sets them apart from one to another.

It makes for taking the Grimm a whole lot easier.

Wisps of silvery mist licked the surface of the teen's armored legs. The sound of a dynamo's motor revving faster and faster could be heard underneath the metal. And with a jerk of his leg, the mist suddenly concentrated on one foot. The teen snapped that leg to the direction of the leader Beowolf, where it then spat out a condensed ball of energy to the surprised beast and detonated like a pressure of air when it made contact its chest.

That had been the queue for the rest of the pack to charge into the frenzy.

All around the teen, the pack of Grimm dove with their fangs bared and their claws glinting in the moonlight. Forward and back, left and right, there was no escaping, all points of exit were blocked by each Grimm, and charging in recklessly would most likely lead to his death.

All points were blocked, except for the night sky.

Bending his legs as wisps of Aura gathered in his metal armor, the teen slipped out of the pile of monsters and took to the air, going high above the ground in an impossible fifteen feet. Twisting and spinning in mid-air, he took the remaining energy in his legs and snapped a kick in the middle of the pile of Grimm. Another condensed energy emerged at the end of the kick, carrying the strength and power of his leg.

An explosion of pressure in the pile sent the Beowolves flying away from the epicenter of the blast, throwing the beasts back to the forest and breaking a few unfortunate trees in the process.

The teen landed in a dull metallic thud as he looked to see the monsters getting back on their legs, even the leader of the pack was back on its feet and growling at him menacingly.

All it did was make the teen smile before stomping feet on the ground in a fighting stance, the silver mist exploding out of his body as he did so.

* * *

If anyone had been near the forest that night, they would have seen a Beowolf howling in the sky. They would have _seen_ it, not hear. It would have been howling _in_ the sky, not _to_ it. It was a bazaar way to put it, but it's what they would have seen, because what they would have witnessed was an odd sight of Beowolves raining down from the sky coming from the path going to Vale.

In the middle of it all is what would most likely be called 'A hurricane of Kicks'. It would have been an accurate assumption.

The teen was spinning in place, throwing his body's weight around making various violent movements that ended with a metal armored foot.

He stopped his continuous momentum when a group of five Beowolves charged at him from one side. His earlier attacks were meant for foes attacking from every direction with enough time for him to follow through another attack. The same move wouldn't work on a group attacking from one direction.

Stomping a foot to the ground for a firm stance, he snapped his other foot to the direction of the charging wolves. Right before the end of his kick, his Semblance gathered before exploding outwards in the direction of the group.

That was his ability, his Semblance that generates kinetic waves to whatever is in contact with his body. His power that was made for pure physical combat.

This is his dream. His Semblance reflected on it as proof of his goal; to broaden his horizon, to be released from the binds of restrictions, to reach the farthest that anyone has ever gone! He would travel the world and make an impact that would be marked in history.

The wolves began to gather once again, circling and surrounding him. The only way to escape was up, but there were far too many of them to jump over.

They wouldn't let him escape. If he wanted these Grimm to stop, he had to make sure that none of them would ever stand. He had to wipe them all out at once.

Bending his legs as he gathered his Aura, he kicked off into the air just as the closest beasts dived to catch him. The Beowolves growled and snarled as he soared high into the air. They all stood close and predicted where he would land.

Up in the apex of his jump, the teen bent his legs once more to gather his Aura before using his Semblance.

A kinetic explosion under his feet sent him higher into the air. The wolves below looked nothing more than moving toys from his altitude.

The sky was clear that night. There were only a few clouds that could be seen thanks to the light of the moon. The forest below looked beautiful from the sky. The black leaves of the forest covered the lights of the white moss like a curtain to the rays of the sun. The Beowolves were gathered together, looking up to him as he was looking down on them. Their red eyes were like a stain to this wonderful painting.

So, like an artist, he would wipe them from the picture.

He felt his ascent still before he began to plunge back to horde of the monsters.

The winds whipped his black hair all around his head as he began to dive down head first.

His Aura flared once again and gathered, leaving a streak of silvery light charging towards the forest.

The monsters of the Grimm howled and prepared themselves, baring their fangs once again.

As he neared the leaves of the forest, he curled himself into a ball and began to roll in his descent.

The leader of the Beowolves jumped into the air, leaving his kind to follow.

The teen snapped his body straight and met the leader straight on, both legs first and covered with a massive amount of Aura.

BOOM!

The sound made when the teen's foot met the skull of the leader, his Semblance exploding all around as the contact was made.

A gigantic pressure rained down on the pack, crushing their bones and blowing their bodies away.

The leaves of the trees scattered, blown away along with the flying corpses of the Grimm.

Roots were uprooted and barks were crushed, but the moss that clung to them remained illuminated, never dying out until they meet the light of the morning sun.

The teen stood over the remains of the leader of the Beowolves. All around him were trees forced out of their rests and multiple amounts of glowing white moss scattered and matted everywhere.

Everything was bright, not a speck of taint could be seen, and the forest was silent. The wind blew and pushed the teen to his next step.

The darkness was driven back, but only for the moment.

Stepping out into the world, he was sure that he would encounter the beasts once again.

* * *

Name: Amakusa Kouya (天草更夜)

Age: 17

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Appearance: Dark eyes and hair, slightly pale skin, wearing a black vest hoodie with a white, long sleeve undershirt that disappears under the fingerless steel gauntlet, black pants with a silver flame on the right side of his pants, which also disappear under the shin guards on his legs, while wearing dark boots.

Semblance: Pulse (Generating kinetic waves in various sizes)

Background:

Born in a mercenary-like village near the borders of Vale, in the middle of the Ethereal Forest. His village was isolated and was only known to a few who stumbles upon it. The village was ruled by three main families: Mars, the strongest and durable of them all and in charge of protecting the village from the Grimm that infests their forests. Machina, the thinkers and inventors, they are the ones in charge of making the weapons of the village, and also the management of most of the dust that they've mined in their mountains. The last were the Amakusa, Kouya's family. They are the fastest and most cunning, and are also in charge of contracting work from outside their village.

Kouya is the son of a Mars woman and an Amakusa man, and both were spoken highly in their respective families. It was in his fifteenth year that he decided to leave the village and see the world outside.

Training extremely for two years just to earn the approval of his parents and the elders of his village, he was finally given the chance after helping a lost Huntsman in their forest while fighting off a gigantic Nevermore. It was from the same Huntsman that he found the Beacon Academy, calling in a few favors in return for helping him against the flying Grimm after hearing his reason for being skilled.

And now, his first destination outside his village was the Beacon Academy.

Powers and Abilities:

His Semblance and Martial Arts is the main focus of his abilities. Kouya could spam a chain of violent kicks without the fear of fatigue thanks to his Mars heritage, and the reflexes given to him by his Amakusa blood allows him to react fast enough to snap into instantaneous counters.

Thanks to his Semblance, he can make shock waves to blow away almost any danger coming to him. With it, he could also make instant platforms in the air for more distance.

Weakness:

Although his powers are great, he can't utilize it freely with any friendly close by. Like the pack of Beowolves in the forest, his Semblance doesn't discriminate any target. As long as it is within range, they will be affected by his Semblance.

Weapon: Piercing Veil (Armored Leggings)

Type: Melee, Aura Converter Device, Ranged

Weapon Derivation: Armored Leggings

Functionality:

A pair of shin guards when not activated, and an accessory that matches his gauntlets.

His weapon has a device that converts his Aura into raw energy, which he can then use a projectiles with equal force of one of his kicks, depending on the power behind it, but because it uses up more Aura than his augmented kicks he usually just use it as a distraction or to harass his foes from afar.

It's made of nigh unbreakable steel. It can crack even the fangs of a Beowolf without a scratch. Because of this, Kouya doesn't have to fear injuring his legs whenever he attacks.

(Pic's on my profile)


	2. Welcome to Beacon!

Story starts here. I'm still in the middle of making chapter 3, where the title will become relevant. Enjoy this one first, a'ight!

* * *

Beacon, Vale's renowned institute for training teens who hope to one day become great Hunters, and to protect the world from the monsters known as Grimm, training them for everything that they must know in combat against humanity's foe.

For years, the school has been known for its state-of-the-art facilities, with professional Hunters as its staff, and for producing great people that would, had, and still are, making names for themselves.

Teenagers from around the kingdom of Vale come to this institute to finish their training and to become fully fledged Hunters. Right now, all of these teenagers were on Dust-powered airships and are on their way to the landing ports of the school, excited and nervous, all at the same time.

Inside one of these airships was a teenager wearing a black vest hoodie, with a mark on its back showing a full silver moon wrapped gently by a dark ebony grass. The teen was rubbing his temple in annoyance as he was trying, but failing, to stave off a headache at the moment. Amakusa Kouya was wondering if there was another way to get to the school without using the airships.

He had been standing close to the windows earlier on before the flight, but as the airship ascended, his head slowly started to ache from the nausea of looking at the city in the air without feeling any wind lulling his sick feeling away.

It was suffocating to be inside the airship, like a glass cell in the sky. There was no feeling of freedom, only the air-conditioning installed in the interior. The slight vibrations weren't helping either. It made him want to hurl.

"GlughuaHH-!"

Like that blond guy that just passed him, who dunked his head inside one of the trashcans in the ship. He felt for the guy, he really did. If he hadn't stepped away from the glass windows to find a nice small space for him to start daydreaming, to let his mind wander and forget about the nausea, he would have been the one emptying his lunch in the trashcan. Or he'd probably be sharing it. Ew.

But still, he could show some sympathy for the guy. Being someone from out of the city, he needed to start making friends.

Walking over to the blond teenager, he placed his hand on the guy's back and started soothing him gently.

"Hey, feeling better?"

The blond looked over to him, probably wondering who was kind enough to help him. The blond nodded slightly, stepping back and away from the smelly can. Kouya did not envy the people who were going to clean that. But then again, it was their fault for not providing any barf bags on these ships.

The blond looked happy that there was someone kind enough to help him in his motion sickness and not make fun of him because of it, like what the other students were already snickering at their general direction.

Kouya saw the blond smile and nod to him, looking slightly better after emptying his stomach. The motion sickness was probably still there, and the blond looked like he still looked green. It probably wouldn't leave until the ship stops moving or they land, so they both would have to make do with his current state at the moment.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking. I get air sick easily."

"I know the feeling." Kouya walked over to the closest wall to lean on before taking his attention back to the blond. "I'm also feeling a bit sick at the moment, but for me, it mostly because of the lack of fresh air coming in. My body knows that the air from the conditioning system is fake, so it doesn't really stop me from feeling sick." He nudged his thumb over to one of the vents where the artificial air was coming from.

He looked over at the blond and finally took a better look at him; Blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin, steel chest plate and shoulder pads over his black hooded jacket, orange warmers that kept his forearms hidden, and wearing brown gloves on his hands. His pants were a little impractical, being denim and all. Finally, there was the black boots to finish his gear.

"My name's Amakusa Kouya, by the way, nice to meet you."

"Yeah, me too." The blond scratched his head in embarrassment from his earlier display. "The name's Jaune Arc. Are you from the east, by any chance?"

Kouya smiled a bit from the question, scratching his cheek a bit. "No, but my ancestors were before they migrated somewhere by the borders of Vale. Amakusa is my family name, meaning 'Heaven' and 'Grass', while my first name is Kouya, meaning 'Midnight', hence the black vest with my family's crest on my back." He turned his back and lifted his hood to show the silver moon wrapped in grass over the black cloth.

"Wow, cool. My family's symbol is on my shield, it's just two yellow arcs, with one over the other." He pulled out his sword and unclasped the sheath from his belt. The dark haired teen was pleasantly surprised when the normal looking sheath suddenly expanded into a shield, on its surface was the mark that Jaune said it had.

"Don't be ashamed of you family's crest, it's probably like that for a reason." Kouya looked over to the space where most of the students had gathered to see a holographic projection of a blonde haired woman announcing a welcome to the coming students before the airship began to descend for landing. "Looks like we're here."

Jaune moved over to one of the glass windows, peering down on the city below then on to the Beacon Academy, sitting on the edge of a steep cliff with a lake/giant river below. The academy was only accessible by airship, a boat ride to the bottom of the cliff where you could either take the stairs or elevator up, or going around the school where a Grimm infested forest resided.

The students around were all talking more excitedly now, already looking forward when the ships touchdown. All of them were in their battle gears, with the rest of their luggage in the cargo.

The site was rather breath taking; with the sun high with no cloud in sight, the waters falling from the multiple rivers on the cliff of Beacon was creating quite a few rainbows on the lake's surface. Though it would have been better if they could feel the fresh air that came from flying high up where they were. It would have been perfect, then.

Jaune was looking quite distracted by all of this, already ignoring his motion sickness at the moment. That was until the ships began to descend faster, which made even Kouya feel his stomach lifting inside him. He grimaced at the moment, the scene before him losing all of its beauty when nausea reared its ugly head. He took a long deep breath, ignoring his body's complaint about the fake air of the conditioning system, and pushed down the bile that made it half-way up his throat.

Unfortunately, Jaune didn't have the same luck.

The teen's cheeks bulged as his motion sickness returned with a vengeance. Jaune ran his way back to the small spot with the trashcan from earlier, spraying a bit of bile every step of the way.

Poor guy. Kouya even heard one of the girl students close to him about seeing a bit of puke on her friend's shoe. Of course, girls being girls, they started overreacting. The blonde that had her shoe baptized by Jaune's puke started wiggling it over to her friend's direction, repeating the words 'gross' again and again, while her friend tried her best to keep away from her.

Once again, poor Jaune.

* * *

Touchdown was a whole lot better than lift off, in Kouya's humble opinion. Now that he had his feet back on solid surface again, and the wind was back to whipping on his face again, he decided that if he was ever going to fly to Beacon again, he'd rather do it on his own, lack of wings and all.

As soon as the doors to the outside opened, Jaune was the first to claim freedom.

"GlughuaHH-!"

Only to seek another container to dispose of his stomach's content.

Even if the ride was over, it still takes a lot out of a person, especially if they weren't used to the mode of transportation. Kouya still had a bit of throbbing on his temple as he fought to keep the ride from affecting him too much.

He stepped behind the blond and soothed his back again, "Come on, Jaune, let's step off the platform, it'll help you feel better."

Jaune nodded his head weakly, stepping away from the can wobbly. Kouya would have offered a shoulder for him to lean on, but he really didn't know the guy that well yet to be alright with the specks of puke on his clothes.

Instead, he grabbed the armor on the blonde's back and slung him over his shoulder like bookbag, with his passenger's legs barely even touching the ground, showing that despite his lean frame he could perform this act with only minimal effort.

"Hey!"

"Just enjoy the ride Jaune." the dark haired teen shifted his arm into a more comfortable position. "There's no railing on this ramp, and I don't want you to accidentally plunge yourself to your doom."

For emphasis, he gestured to the side where the blond found his gaze going down the cliff and in to the water. They weren't even close enough to the cliffs to grab on to if they fell. They'd probably be able to scream a full two minutes until they meet the water below. It was just that high.

Kouya took Jaune's audible gulp as a sign of acceptance for the ride, before pointing over to one of the other ships. "At least you're not the only one."

Jaune saw a guy walking out off one of the ships. On his shoulders was a girl, swaying dangerously from side to side.

"Noh-Ra!"

"Sorry, Ren!"

"See?" Kouya chuckled as he heard the guy's rather frustrated voice and the girl's carefree reply.

Jaune felt relief washed over him. The other students were looking at the odd pair more, and were ignoring them altogether. The girl on that poor guy was definitely not for people with weak hearts.

Kouya took this moment to weave around the other students in front of them, and moved faster to get to the ground. All the while, he replayed the guy's voice in his head and the girl's reply over and over again, silently laughing to himself.

* * *

"So, what do you think they're going to teach us here?"

"Well… from the piece of paper that had eye-catching stuff in it, that they gave me, we'll be learning about the different types of monsters, their behaviors, weaknesses, habitats, and so on. There are also classes about Dust, Aura, Tactics, Combat, etcetera etcetera."

Jaune's shoulder seem to slump after every subject uttered by the Amakusa boy. These were probably the basics that every Hunter needed to know before they go on their journeys. Hunters were all probably exceptional in everything that they did. Coming from Beacon, they were probably obligated to.

The dark haired teen let his eyes roam on everything that it could see in Beacon. His friend had already recovered from their ride on the ship and was now walking with a bit of cloud of depression hanging over him. He chalked it up as having an eccentric or dramatic friend.

It was his first time in Beacon, like most of the students that rode with them. There were probably some who had connections that allowed them to visit it earlier on, but for a guy that lived most of his life in the countryside, in Grimm infested forests even, the experience of being in a famous school was… new. Nothing special, just new.

But a dismissive part of him was already wearing that novelty off.

There were Faunus' walking along with the Humans. Their race were highly discriminated by the human society as a whole, with only a few kind souls treating them like human beings, like the people in Kouya's village who accepted the extra hands in their home. The Faunus looked like humans, with a few added animal parts on their body. Their physiology was also a little different than a human's, but in a good way.

There was a Faunus girl with rabbit ears on the top of her head looking at everything like they would attack her at any moment. There was a Dog eared Faunus being given a wide berth by the other students for some reason. But there were other Faunus' that stuck as groups and chose to ignore the humans that walk by them.

Kouya had to frown at both race's behavior. He didn't have right to judge them, but if they didn't do anything to change the status quo, then there wouldn't be any difference in interaction in the future.

He and his blond friend were knocked out of their thoughts when they heard the familiar clicking sounds of a weapon's deployment.

The blonde girl whose shoe that Jaune accidentally violated was looking at her friend's black and red colored scythe. Kouya couldn't help but appreciate the weapon design and its details, and was wondering how the girl could wield such a weapon when it was taller than her.

"Impressive." Kouya muttered.

"How can she even use that thing?" Jaune whispered with a bit of disbelief.

"You know what they say about judging a book by its cover."

"To see if it's PG rated?"

"Exactly."

At least that's what he thought it was. He did ask Jaune a valid question.

Kouya and his new friend watched the blonde and the other girl talk to each other until a group of students took the blonde away to the school, leaving the obviously distraught girl all by herself.

Jaune and Kouya shared a look for a moment before Kouya nudged his head to girl. It would have been a kind gesture to help her, and Kouya didn't peg Jaune to be the heartless kind. The blond was about to nod, before something caught his eye. Kouya looked at him oddly then turned his head back to the girl, only to do a double take.

"White." He couldn't help but mutter. "A whole lot of white."

Beside him, Jaune nodded. Both were entranced, but both had a different reason why.

The girl that they decided to help was talking with someone else, though they looked more like a one sided nagging. The one talking was a new girl, like Kouya described, decked head to toe with the color white: albino hair, pale skin, with equally pale blue eyes, a thin scar that ran on the outer side of her left eye, traveling from the brow, missing the organ, and running a bit on her cheek. The girl was wearing a one piece battle dress with long sleeved bolero jacket over it. On the girl's legs were thigh high, _heeled,_ boots. All of her clothes were white, tinting to the pale color of blue as they went closer to the hem.

Kouya couldn't help but grimace at the outfit. He was no fashion enthusiast, but he still liked to look good, before and after a battle. Be presentable to watchers, like his father said. Compared to his practical black and silver motif, he didn't know how the girl's clothes would survive in a fight. Wasn't she afraid of stains? Rips? Dirt? Blood?

Again, he probably shouldn't judge a book by its cover. She could be one of this flawless fighters that fought with speed and grace, finishing a fight before it even began, and walking away in pristine condition. But the way she was bitching on the other girl, he highly doubted that.

Jaune was also in his current state because of the girl's state of dress. She looked like a snow fairy. His mind didn't even register the girl's attitude towards the other one that they thought to help out, but that didn't really matter at his current state.

"You're drooling, Jaune."

The guy sputtered, his hand going to his lips. Indeed, there was a bit of moisture there. "W-What? No I'm not."

"Yes, you were." Kouya said flatly, "And we should probably go help out the girl, she looks like she's being bullied."

"Who? Snow Angel?"

"No, Jaune, the other one."

_Boom_

Both guys looked back again to find that the snow fairy had transformed into an ash monster. The girl had been waving a bottle of Dust and pretty much ignored the spill that was coming from the container. The other girl must have done something to cause a reaction for it to blow at their faces, with only the girl in white to take a full body color change.

It was enough to kick Jaune out of his love at first sight shtick, but Kouya could tell that he was still interested.

"Uh, shouldn't we go and help out?" the blond asked.

"We probably should," the dark haired teen gestured to his legs. "But for some reason my feet don't want to move."

Jaune couldn't help but wince at that. "Well, I can't really say that you're the only one. I mean, look at how angry she is."

Kouya really wanted to help the other girl, but there was just something about pissed off women that strike the fear of Dust in him. It all probably started when his mother kicked his father's ass that one time when he was younger.

Then she sent him through a wall.

"There's another one coming." Jaune pointed to another girl joining the two, this one was had black motif like Kouya. She gave the white girl a bottle, who looked a bit smug but then turned to indignant after the girl in black said something. Then the girl in white walked away.

Then so did the one in black.

That left Kouya and Jaune with the original girl that they wanted to help out. Awkward didn't even begin to describe what the two teens were feeling at that moment. They could already tell that life in Beacon was not going to be a walk in the park.

"Now should we help out?" the blond asked.

"Yeah, now should probably be safe." Kouya nodded.

* * *

Turns out that the girl they intended to save was called Ruby Rose, a girl two years younger than they were that got scouted by the headmaster himself. She was dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, with a black dress and boots, and also a few bits of red here and there. Even her hair was black with a bit of red tint at the end.

"So Jaune, Kouya, what do you two think of Beacon so far?"

The three of them had taken to walking along the school, anywhere that wasn't the same place where Ruby met Ms. White and Lady Black. Jaune was already dreading the next few days while Kouya was just awkward of it all.

"After seeing your experience? I learned that I should stay away from rich girls dressed in white with an attitude not as pure as their chosen color." Kouya raised his hands in surrender.

"Come on, she's not that bad."

Kouya gave Jaune a flat stare when he heard the him take the rich girl's side. Rudy looked like she was on the fence with the dark haired teen's opinion, but what the white girl did really left an impression on him. He had a better opinion on the girl in black when she helped Ruby. It also helped that her clothes were more combat suited than the Snow Fairy.

"Vomit Boy, your tastes are horrendous."

"Hey! Can we stop it with that nickname?"

Kouya raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry, but it just sticks. I've heard a few nicknames but that one's just really hard to forget. It's new, fresh, like a rash that keeps on itching and demanding to be scratched…"

"You were also feeling sick on the ride!" the blond cried indignantly.

"Ah, but I was better at hiding it." The dark haired teen raised a finger in retort before swiping it in the air as if pointing at a blank art canvas. "I was in one corner, minding my own business and pushing the nausea to the back of my mind, then you came along," he waved his hands in an ascent motion, making a wooshing sound effect, "rushing in front of me and went straight to the trashcan, then you were all 'Bluergh!'." Kouya held his throat and opened his mouth, sticking his tongue out for a better description, "So you have to understand what I felt when I heard 'Vomit Boy'"

"You felt that your new friend was being made fun off and you suddenly felt the fury of a thousand suns?"

Kouya scratched his cheek a bit in mild embarrassment. "No, it was more like; 'Why didn't I think of that?'"

Jaune was about to make another retort when both boys heard their companion's girlish giggle, "You two are really good friends."

"Well, no, we actually just met on the ship," Jaune admitted. "but nausea has a way to connect people."

"I'm really jealous of you two, I wish I could make friends that fast." The girl's shoulders slumped at the admission.

Kouya and Jaune could somewhat understand the girl's situation. All of her friends were at Signal Academy, and she was now attending Beacon, a school where almost everyone was at least two years older than her. It was like taking one lion cub from a nursery full of them and then transferring it to a cage full of adult lions instead.

She had to prove that she was also one of them… or else.

Kouya was from the countryside, a very isolated but not socially ignorant village. He was actually the first one to attend Beacon, under the recommendation of one of the Hunters that sometimes stumble upon their humble little village.

Jaune was… well, he actually wasn't sure about the boy, but his jittery movements made it clear that he also empathizes.

It took a few banters between Kouya and Jaune to break the ice for the girl. It was her comment about Vomit Boy that she started easing up and started to become active in their conversation. Kouya already had a plan for her to make friends easier.

"We just have to talk about something that we can all relate to. If you do that, conversation should come naturally."

Ruby contemplated his words for a moment. It's how him and Jaune were able to bond, though he wished it was something else. But beggars can't be choosers.

"Well, I got this?" The girl pulled out and deployed her high tech scythe and stabbed its blade to the ground, emphasizing its sharpness to both boys in hopes to impress them.

Both of them were impressed indeed, Kouya more so than Jaune.

"I-Is that a scythe?" the blond asked nervously, not missing the heavy sound that it made when she planted it on solid concrete. How heavy was that thing?

"I'm more surprised that you can lift it." Kouya stood back to admire the weapon properly. It was pretty uncommon for people to make scythes as weapons. They were pretty tricky to use, but are great weapons for mob control.

"It's also a customizable high impact sniper rifle." Ruby said, patting her weapon lovingly.

"Neat."

"A wha-?"

"It's also a gun." Ruby showed Jaune the magazine before pulling the chamber and reloading a round.

"Oh… that's cool!"

Kouya noticed how Ruby was looking happier now that she was talking about her scythe. Jaune also seemed impressed by the weapon now that he knew what it was.

"So, how about you guys? What have you got?"

"Well…" both boys looked at each other. Kouya shrugged first before standing on his toes and letting his shin guards transform into a set of armored leggings. Jaune and Ruby heard a whirling sound coming from his feet before it clicked into silence a moment later.

"Piercing Veil." The dark haired teen announced. "Nigh indestructible combat armor leggings." The whirling sound started again and the other two saw blue lines traveling from his ankle to his knee and heel. "It also has an Aura Conversion Device (ACD). It turns my Aura into energy, similar to how engines nowadays turn Dust into power to move vehicles, and I can use it to send energy projectiles to a limited distance equal to the power of my kicks."

"Oooo…" both Ruby and Jaune crouched down to get a better look, with the blond poking at the blue lines and Ruby checking his ankles to see where the whirling sound was coming from.

"It can only channel so much Aura until it overheats, and after that, I'll have to wait half an hour at least until it cools down."

"It doesn't have a ventilation system?" Ruby asked.

"It does." The dark haired teen scratched his head. "It's just that it's so compact that the heat has trouble getting out, and we had to find the right thickness between the engine and my legs. The engine is actually strong enough to burn skin if I remove the limiter that automatically turns it off after reaching a certain temperature."

"That sounds complicated." Jaune commented, wincing at the burning skin part.

"It is." Kouya nodded. "But thanks to my Semblance it never really comes to that. So, how about you Jaune?"

"Me?" the boy looked awkward when both Ruby and Kouya turned to him. "W-well, I got this sword? A-and a shield too!"

Pulling out said weapon, Jaune fumbled a bit with the shield that acted as the sword's sheath as well. It had a folding function that was pretty deceiving to another's eyes, if they didn't know it. Kouya's eyes glinted slightly with interest, so did Ruby's. Kouya had already seen it on the ship, but with the motion sickness gone, he can now properly appreciate the weapon.

"So, what do they do?" asked the eager girl.

"W-well, the shield gets smaller. S-so when I get tired I can just put it away, hehe." The boy finished with an awkward laugh. Jaune sounded like he was feeling pretty inadequate when compared to his friends' weapons.

"Doesn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah it does." Jaune admitted dejectedly.

"Don't be so glum, Jaune." Kouya patted his friend.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to weapons. I admit that I probably got a little bit carried away in designing it." Ruby lifted he scythe for an example.

"You made that?" asked the shocked blond, suddenly forgetting his depression.

"Of course! All students in Signal forge their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand me down. My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"You mean that thing's three generations old?" Kouya asked in shock. It was hard to maintain that kind of weapon if it's always being used, but the state of the blade showed that, yes, it's still being used and still being well maintained.

"How about yours?" Ruby asked the other boy.

"It's actually my dad's." Kouya admitted, giving the blond a smile. But unlike Jaune, Kouya was proud of his hand me down. "He gave it to me after the foldable frame technology was installed and the limiter was implemented."

"Wait. Your dad used that without the limiter? Wasn't he burned whenever he used that?" Jaune asked in shock.

"My dad has a few burn scars, but he only used the ACD to move faster when kicking off the ground or in emergencies. In truth, he really didn't need it. My dad is a master of martial arts that focused mostly on kicks, and thanks to the protection given by Piercing Veil, he can go all out without the fear of hurting himself in his kicks." Kouya stated proudly.

"So… you came here using your dad's style of fighting?" Jaune asked carefully.

"Only the basics." Kouya admitted bashfully. "Our approaches in fights are different, so his style wasn't really suited for me."

His father focused mostly on misdirection and speed, mixing feints with chains and well aimed kicks. He style was more like his mother's: attacking with overwhelming force and beating down his enemy without any chance of retaliation.

"Hold on, shouldn't we be going to the auditorium right about now?" Ruby asked suddenly.

"I thought one of you two knew where we were going." The blond said to the dark haired teen.

"This is my first time out of my village; did you really expect me to know where we are? I just followed the path where the other students were headed."

"Where _are_ the other students?" Ruby asked.

"Uhh…" both boys turned to one another before looking around for any signs of life.

There was a cricket.

But nothing else.

"Does anyone have a map?"


	3. The Night at Beacon

I don't know what a SYOC is, but sure, let's go with that, for now.

This chapter's has some insight of the village the Kouya grew up in, it also shows a bit of his personality. Not really much action until the next chapter, but it's still a good read to pass time.

* * *

"She left us." The Jaune muttered in dejection.

"Yeah, she did." Kouya agreed absently, panning his eyes around the auditorium of Beacon and pulling his hood up.

The place was filled with Hunter-hopefuls, gathering both the groupies and the loners. Ruby separated from them earlier when her blonde friend that ditched her called out for the girl. This left Jaune and Kouya to themselves once again. They moved over to the center of the room and close to the spot where Ruby and her blonde friend was. Jaune was a bit depressed that their new friend didn't think to take them with her.

"The least she could have done was introduce us to her friend." Jaune grumbled.

"Not a chance." Kouya replied, eyes still roaming around the room.

"I mean, did you see that blonde? She was pretty amazing!"

"Dazzling."

"Though I still think that Snow Angel was still pretty sweet…"

"Your taste buds need examining." Kouya spotted a Faunus stumbling in the crowd while she was on her way to the corner of the room where most of her kind took refuge in the sea of humans.

"But in terms of looks, they were both pretty high up there." The blond nodded to himself sagely.

"No doubt about that."

"It would have been awesome to be an acquaintance of her, at least."

"You dream pretty high." Kouya muttered.

"I mean for both of- are you even listening?" Jaune finally noticed that his friend hadn't been looking at him and was rather distracted every time he asked a question.

"Hmm-, I'm sorry, wha-?"

The blond's eyebrow twitched a bit. "Don't give perfect responses when you don't even know what I'm saying! It's just… freaky! What were you even doing?"

Kouya had been checking out the combat gears of every student that he could see, judging both their looks and practicality. He was sorely disappointed with some of them.

There are some who chose looks rather than usage, and more of them looked uncomfortable after a day of use. There was one that looked more like a model than a Hunter in training. He grimaced at that, hoping that their time here in Beacon would fix that wardrobe functionality soon. Their gears looked very likely to get grabbed by a clawed hand of a Grimm.

Their careers would end pretty quickly even before they start.

"I'm checking to see how the students here compare to my other peers back in the village."

"Well, what do you see?"

"Disappointment."

Jaune's eyebrows rose in surprise in the surety of the admittance. "Oh. Why do you say that?"

Kouya thought for a moment before remembering that Jaune wasn't from his village and that his home was pretty unknown to almost everyone that didn't have the Liens to hire them. The services that his father and mother's family provide weren't exactly cheap, but they do have a one hundred percent guarantee of success.

Collateral damage notwithstanding, of course.

The Amakusa family would go out of the village searching for clients to raise their village's funds, and the Mars, his mother's family, would get the job done. The Machina family would provide the weapons for the fighters of the village, and they are also in charge of the Dust storage, as well as the technology to keep up with the world outside.

The jobs provided in his village were mostly categorized into three groups: Fighters, Scholars, and Farmers.

Fighters mostly consist of the Amakusa and Mars, with the occasional Machina who wanted to travel the world and update their village to the world's current technology. The Scholars were mostly of the Machina family, with a few Mars who wanted to use their great strength to forge and create things rather than just break stuff with it. Farmers are the ones who keep the agriculture of their village, mixed with all of the three families most of the time. They are the ones who were never really suited for violence and chose to maintain the village's own food supply as their task.

Right now, Kouya was comparing the students to the young fighters of his village.

The Mars were pretty brash and confident, with both strength and skill to match their boasts. Their young adults could pound a Boarbatusk into submission, while their adults, who have trained their bodies to the peak of physical condition, could wrestle against an Ursa and win.

Kouya himself was an Amakusa, the family that mostly focuses on quick, efficient and decisive victories. In a match, he'd even kick his opponent's balls if it was allowed, just to move on and save himself the trouble thinking of another way to win. The Amakusa were like the Ninjas of the village, but instead of being secretive, they were more shy and awkward to public appearance, with the adults going so far as to wear masks when they find work. Even Kouya has a mild case of that shyness to strangers, but instead of a mask, he'd rather pull up his hood. It would have been worse of his Mars mother hadn't beaten most of it out of him.

Those were the most awkward days of his childhood.

Machina were the scariest type of fighters, in Kouya's opinion. They would analyze and observe their opponents, then systematically tear them apart, piece by piece. Psychological warfare was their forte, picking at their opponent's brain until they get bored or the fight was over. Most of the village was quite relieved that there were only a few Machina that ever wanted to learn how to fight.

Comparing those types of fighters to the ones that he could see in the auditorium, he was a bit happy to say that he was disappointed with them, though their clothes gave him the bad kind of disappointment. There was none that he could see that had an over-the-top quirk. No over confidence backed up by super strength, no bipolar people that could go from shy to threatening, and no sadistic bastards that are too oblivious to realize that they are actually sadists.

Yes, the disappointment washed over Kouya like a relaxing breeze on a fresh spring morning.

"Jaune, let's just say that the people in my village aren't really what you call 'Normal' in current society."

"Are they Faunus?"

Kouya paused, considering his friend's statement. "… That's racist, Jaune."

"Wha-? No! No, no, that's not what I meant!" the blond waved his arms in front of him, denying the accusation of his friend.

"Do you have anything against Faunus?" Kouya asked carefully.

There were a few Faunus in his village, but all of them were living comfortably. Back after the war between the Faunus and the Humans, some of them wandered to his home, but most of the villagers considered them as assets rather than discriminating them. And new blood was always welcome to the village.

"Of course not! I just thought that you meant to say was that the people in your village weren't exactly human!"

"…" Kouya was considering those words.

"…" Jaune was silently pleading that he didn't offend his friend.

"That was actually pretty close to the truth, Jaune." Kouya muttered with a bit of shame and embarrassment.

The headmaster was really taking his time for the speech to the new students. Kouya looked over to the wall clock high above the stage and realized that they still had a few minutes. Maybe they should have taken their time exploring the campus for a bit?

He looked to where Ruby and her friend were and nudged Jaune with his elbow. "Hey look, its Snow Fairy."

The blond turned his head to where Kouya was pointing and, indeed, the girl in white from before was talking to Ruby again. Though she did still look miffed and was making Ruby take something from her hand.

"I think she looks more like a Snow Angel." Jaune rebutted.

"I see a dress, Jaune, not a robe or a piece of cloth covering her modesty. And besides, angels are kind, flawless, and well mannered. This one isn't. Right now she's being more like a bi-"

"-Don't say it." Jaune interrupted.

"Bipolar. I was going to say 'Bipolar'." Kouya deadpanned. "Come on; let's move over to their spot. It's better to be close to people you know than standing here looking lost."

* * *

Back to Ruby and the lady in white, Ruby had her hand out to her and was trying to start over her meeting with the grouchy Snow Fairy.

"Hello, Weiss, I'm Ruby. Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies." Ruby finished with a cheesy grin.

Weiss took a moment to look at the girl, it was clear that she really didn't want to associate herself with Ruby. "Yeah! And we can paint our nails, try on clothes and talk about cute boys." Weiss Schnee talked on in an excited tone, but it was rather coated with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Like tall, blond and scraggly over here." She pointed behind her, where she noticed that Jaune and Kouya had walked up to them during Ruby's introduction.

"Hm?" Jaune reacted when his Snow Angel pointed her thumb at him.

Ruby finally realized who Weiss was pointing at and waved her hand at them in greeting. "Oh, hey guys!"

"Hey Ruby." Both Kouya and Jaune answered at the same time.

"Oh right. Yang, these are the two guys that helped me after you ditched me and I exploded. The guy in the armor is Jaune Arc and the one with the hood up is Amarkusa Kouya."

"Amakusa, actually." Kouya corrected.

"Oh, my baby sister made guy friends on her first day!" the blonde, Yang, went over to give her sister big squeeze when she introduced the two boys to her. "but couldn't you have left out the part where I ditched you?"

"No need. We saw you do it." Kouya interjected.

"Oh." Yang scratched her head in embarrassment.

"Amakusa?" Weiss repeated the word, looking at the hooded Kouya, with most of his face covered. "By chance, do you know a group of people wearing masks and calling themselves Amakusa as well?"

"That depends." He raised a curious brow. "Who's asking?"

Weiss stood up straight and faced the hooded teen with her Flat Chest of Justice out and her chin up. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Ah, my family's new client." Kouya nodded, recalling the last name of the girl.

"You two know each other?" Jaune asked.

"Not personally." Kouya admitted, crossing his arm. "My family's recently been employed by the Schnee Company after a recent attack of their cargo."

"And they weren't cheap." The Schnee heiress muttered bitterly.

Kouya shrugged helplessly. It's not like he could do anything about the price of their contracts. "We have a perfect record and no failures for the last century. We always offer the best people for the task if they are available. Really, you shouldn't complain, everyone in the Amakusa line up are all professionals."

"I still could not believe that my father would hire mercenaries to escort our next shipment." The Snow Fairy grumbled.

"Hey, it's not like we're the only choice you had. There are other groups out there who do the same jobs that we do." Kouya's village wasn't the only place where people could hire mercenaries. They could have even hired Hunters to guard their cargos. But they didn't for some reason. "You're family even has those new Combat Bots that are just coming out, right?"

The heiress continued to grumble irritably before Yang walked up to him and Jaune. "Hi. Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister." She introduced, holding out her hand.

"Jaune Arc." The blond shook her hand before remembering that she was the one that Ruby was with on the airship. "Sorry about your shoe."

"Don't sweat it, Vomit Boy." Though her tone was forgiving, her grip on the boy's hand was anything but gentle.

Jaune took his hand back and blew on it, walking up to slump close to the Heiress. Kouya was next to shaking the blonde's hand. "Amakusa Kouya. And for the record, my families are contractors, not mercenaries."

"Gotcha."

Their attentions were brought to the stage, along with the rest of the students, when a man with grey hair walked up to the microphone. Apparently this was the headmaster of Beacon.

"I'll… keep this brief."

Kouya stood up straight, crossing his arms on reflex again as he did. This was a Huntsman, a man who has seen the world and protected it from the Grimm. He wanted to see what they were like, and what they would pass on words of wisdom to the students here in Beacon.

"You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you finish, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

Ruby smiled, looking beside her to her sister in excitement. She had been dreaming of this day, to go to Beacon and become a Huntress when the time comes. Kouya and the rest shared the feeling; they wanted to be a Hunter for their own reasons.

"But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction."

The smile on Kouya vanished.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Just like that, reality came back once more to the hopeful students. Being a Hunter wasn't fun and games. They would fight and kill, both Grimm and humans alike. Kouya had only ever fought Grimm, never humans. But the stories that his parents told him showed that not all people were good, and that there would come a time where he would have to take a life. It wasn't a question of 'If it would happen' but 'When it happens'.

With the life of his village, it's only inevitable.

Stepping away from the microphone, Headmaster Ozpin walked off the stage and allowed Ms. Glynda Goodwitch to give the instructions to the students.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed"

Little by little the students began to exit the auditorium, with the heiress of the Schnee following them.

"He seems kind of… off." Yang muttered as she and the others also got ready to leave, letting the crowd thin out before moving.

"Yeah, it's almost like he wasn't even there." Ruby agreed.

"It was a reality check."

The two girls, Jaune and even the retreating heiress turned to Kouya, his hood still up and his arms still crossed.

"The students were blinded by the glamour of attending Beacon, to be actually chosen to go to this school and all of its fame."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Professor Ozpin was saying that hopes and dreams can only take you so far, with nothing behind it, you're surely to fail."

The group's backs straightened as they recalled the words of the headmaster, but the teen continued.

"It's either rise or fall from here on out. Will you rise to become a Hunter or will you fall from the cliffs of Beacon? I'm starting to see that coming here might not have been a mistake."

The group's faces all turned to determined, with Jaune faltering a bit. Kouya couldn't help but turn to him, his eyebrow raised behind his hood. His friend noticed him turning, but Jaune faced away instead.

It seems that Beacon wasn't for everyone.

* * *

That night, after the two boys asked about the cafeteria, every first year was gathered in the school's ballroom. Though the place was huge, some of the students weren't comfortable sleeping close to strangers. The Faunus especially were leery of all the humans.

"You'd think that huddling in one corner of the room would make them realize that they're just garnering attention." Jaune whispered to Kouya. The blond was wearing a blue feetie pajama, with a bunny heads as feet.

"Can you blame them, Jaune?" Kouya said back in reply. The dark haired teen was also wearing a feetie pajama, with him having its hood up. His feetie was black and had a ridiculous hood with ears sewn on top of them, his hands and feet were white and resembled paws instead, no opposable thumbs at all. He even has a bushy fox tail with a white tip in his arms, hugging it as he and Jaune walked back to their sleeping bags. "I'd approach them myself, but with the way I look, they'd just think I'm making fun of them."

"Yeah…" the blond agreed, re-examining his friend's choice of sleep wear. "Out of curiosity, did you choose that?"

Kouya reached up with one paw to pat the fake ears on the hood. "My mother did, for my last birthday. She got the Machina family make it for her."

"Do you hate it?"

"I love it actually." Kouya said proudly. He gesture to the tail that he was holding, showing that there was a zipper hidden under the bushy black fur. "It has a space inside where I can put a pillow in to keep me comfortable when I sleep."

"But why a fox?" Jaune asked curiously.

"It's my dad's favorite animal. My mom wanted to humiliate me with it, but when I actually loved it, she asked the Machina family to customize it. "

"Um, who are the Machina anyway and what did they do?"

Kouya forgot that he hasn't explained to the blond his village yet. Maybe later he might just do.

"The Machina are the smartest family of my village. They're the ones who made my shin guards, Piercing Veil. As for what they did-" Kouya activated his Aura and let go of his tail. His blond friend watched in shock as the tail rose up and began swaying behind the teen lazily like it was alive. "They attached an Aura Conversion Device on the tailbone with a flexible, multi jointed, rudder along the shape of the tail. The device powers the rudder, which makes the tail move."

"That's so cool!" Jaune gushed as the tail swayed from side to side and increased in speed when Kouya boasted it proudly.

* * *

The two hadn't realize that the other students had stopped what they were all doing in order to look the pajama/costume/suit that the dark haired teen was wearing. It was ridiculous, childish, and absurd. Who wears those kinds of pajamas after reaching thirteen? But when the tail began to move on its own, everyone became intrigued.

Opinions varied from 'What the fucks' and 'Cools' of the guys to the 'That's so cute!' and 'How is it doing that' of the girls. Still, both Jaune and Kouya were oblivious of it all. The blond had his attention glued to the tail, while Kouya was busy in his moment of boasting.

Over to Ruby and Yang, the younger girl was gushing at the pajama while her sister was looking at it oddly. "What a ridiculous thing to wear."

Ruby heard her sister and glared at her, the eye wear on her head seemingly coming alive and doing it to the blonde as well. "You're just jealous that you don't have one." Ruby chastised her sister.

Yang sat on her sleeping bag for a moment and thought of her in an animal themed costume, with a swaying tail as well. It didn't have a hood cause it messes with her hair, so it was a headband instead. Maybe a lion? Or a tiger? A very sexy lion/tiger costume? A one piece bikini-like costume that exposes her back, shoulders and belly, thigh high leggings and paw mittens.

Yes, she could definitely make that work.

She smiled. "Me like. Rawr…"

Ruby looked at Yang, already figuring out her sister's thoughts. It wasn't that hard when you notice her lips curled in a sly smile and her eyes narrowed into a leer. "You know, sis, you could just ask him where he got that."

The blond perked up at the thought. Her imagination might not just be an imagination after all. "Great idea!"

"Wait, what?" Ruby's questioning look was replaced by surprise when her sister stood up and grabbed her hand, dragging her to where their new friends were standing. "Wait, Yang! I wasn't being serious about that!"

"Too late, little sis." Yang's face warped into an excited mask as she locked on to the Amakusa boy's swinging tail. It was quite hypnotic, the way it moves so realistically.

The two boys were already on their way back to their sleeping bags again, with Kouya telling Jaune some of the families of his village. They didn't notice Yang dragging her sister over to them until the energetic of the two called out to them.

"Hey you two!" the blonde cheered happily.

Both boys turned to her and were about to say their hellos when their eyes were suddenly caught in a gravitational pull by Yang's shirt. More specifically the two things that were trying so hard to rip said shirt apart.

Both males gulped audibly.

Of course Yang caught them staring. It was good to know that she could get that kind of reaction to any boy she wanted. She was rather proud of her body, and she wasn't afraid to flaunt it in public.

Within reasonable exposure, of course.

"Nice jammies Kouya." Her eyes were still on the tail, but the paw hands and feet also garnered her attention. "You too Jaune." She said flatly. The guy didn't miss the tone, making the boy slump his shoulder at the dismissal.

"There there." Ruby had moved over to the male blond's side and patted him on the back. It wasn't his fault that his parent's didn't want to humiliate him by making him look like a pet with moving animal parts.

"You too, Yang." Kouya stepped back a bit to look at the blonde girl fully. The snug shirt and high cut shorts were really emphasizing her chest and long silky legs. Though those really didn't stop anyone from noticing her other great features. Yang was definitely a very beautiful woman. "Very nice indeed."

"Why thank you." Yang struck a sheepish pose that lacked any sincerity in it. Even so, it still made the teen tilt his head a bit to look at her in a different angle, his hood and sewn on animal ears following the motion. Both their smiles widened with what they saw.

"Uh… Kouya, you do know that's my sister, right?" Ruby had successfully consoled Jaune over and both were looking at the blatant flirting with uneasy stares.

"Your sister started it." Kouya said. The teen earned a playful smack on the shoulder from said sister.

Ruby couldn't believe how close the two were acting. Didn't she just introduce them earlier today? "How come you're so friendly with my sister already?"

Kouya looked at Yang, who shrugged, before looking back at Ruby. "She makes it hard to dislike her." Yang was a little too easy going. Her flirty and lively attitude makes it easy for his detached outlook and calm approach. She was the first to act, and he just had to react in return. It was that simple.

Yang puffed out her impressive chest, gaining the eyes of most of the guys close to their spot. "Thanks, Kouya. You're not bad yourself."

Kouya smiled in return.

"Anyway, we just came here to ask about that." The blonde girl said, pointing to the tail behind the Amakusa teen. "Where did you get that and where can I get one?"

"Blunt." Kouya deadpanned. "You kind of remind me of my mother, only with blond hair."

"She must be a great woman." Yang sagely nodded. Anyone resembling her must be a great person. She has many friends and everyone likes her.

"Right." Kouya said. Just agree and move on. Don't rebut it or you'll get mauled. "The pajama's a common buy, but the addition to the tail is a personal custom."

"It's a custom?" Yang blinked. Ruby was now looking the tail differently.

The girl in red and black motif went over to Kouya's other side and crouched down, looking at the joint that connected the tail to the body. Jaune and Yang noticed the girl's intense stare, unaware that it was making the one wearing the pajama nervous.

"Ruby?"

"Yes, Kouya?"

"Stop staring at my butt." Kouya was pulling his hood down with his paw-hands and hiding his face. His Amakusa shyness was showing again. With all the people that he now noticed that were looking at him, he was really starting to get uncomfortable.

"Eep!" Ruby jumped back, her face burning red. Her head turned side to side and realized that everyone was staring. She wished that she had her cloak right now and was doing the same thing that Kouya was doing. Stupid Aura Conversion Device curiosity.

* * *

It was a few minutes later when Jaune and Kouya took their sleeping bags and put them close to where Ruby and Yang had taken space. Kouya had his hood pulled up, the hem going over his nose and was back to hugging his tail again. Ruby had taken her cloak from her bag and was using it to cover her face as well. Yang was looking amused to all of this while Jaune just didn't know what to do in this situation.

"Come on you two, it wasn't that bad." Yang started.

"Easy for you to say." Ruby muttered.

"Unlike you, Yang, not everyone can take all of that attention." Kouya muttered. He really wanted this day to end already. The pajamas didn't bother him that much, but the stares were just too... distracting.

"But you have to admit, it was pretty funny." Said Yang. It was always fun to her sister so flustered. Her new friend was just an added bonus. Just looking at him acting like a shy fox was really entertaining. She really wanted to crush him in a hug. A friendly, crushing hug.

But a crushing hug, still.

"For you maybe." Ruby said, chucking one of her extra pillows at her sister's face. It was already awkward being the youngest here in Beacon, she didn't need people calling her a perv for checking out a guy's bum...

Wait! That wasn't what she meant!

Ruby buried her head deeper under her hood, the thought of looking at a guy's rear was really embarrassing!

Jaune was off to the side with a placating arm gesture. "Come on guys, no harm done, right?"

He got two hooded glares for his trouble.

Jaune slumped in his spot on his sleeping bag. Nobody really reacted to his feetie pajama now that there was something there that was of more interest. He was happy that no one was making fun of him anymore, but he did feel bad for his friends.

Ruby went back to writing her letter earlier before Kouya showed off his tail. She wanted her friends in her previous school to know her experience here in Beacon. Already, she has a topic to write about. She made sure that there wasn't anything incriminating in her letter or anything that might confuse them with her words. The embarrassment from earlier was still fresh in her mind.

Kouya was lying on his side, making his mind wander to tire himself out until he fell asleep. Sometimes having a lot of stamina didn't help him at night. It would have been easier if he had a grueling day, but he really didn't move that much in the morning. He hoped that mental fatigue would help knock him out.

Yang was back to her observation to the hot hunks that were sleeping with no tops on. She very much approved of them. Being a hunter in training really did wonders for their bodies. She should know herself. Still, it made her wonder of her new friends. The slim fit of the pajamas were enough to get the imagination going, but that really didn't compare to the real thing.

Her eyes moved back to the two guys. Jaune was on his back an was already covered in his blacket, while Kouya had curled himself to the side and away from them.

Jaune, she could tell, had a really good physique but was still lacking a bit, Kouya on the other hand... she didn't know.

His earlier clothes were covering almost all of his skin, with only his head and fingers being exposed. Now his pajamas were baggy, really loose, there wasn't a hint that it gave away of his body. It's really frustrating. She wanted to at least be able to picture the Amakusa's physique, but the jammies were really getting in the way. Was he lean? Was he bulky? Does he still have a bit of soft muscles here and there? Maybe tomorrow she can get a peek. Her sister's tastes in friends weren't bad, if only Vomit Boy would straighten up, she might even be willing to give him a chance.

She noticed Kouya stand up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Bathroom." he waved over his shoulder and walked towards the door leading to the halls. He was actually waiting for everyone else to finish using it before he went himself. He really didn't trust the strangers around him to not do something to his pajamas when he wasn't looking.

"You didn't go before?"

"Nope."

* * *

It was minutes later that Kouya walked out of the bathroom, taking his time to dry his hands before he re-zipped the upper part of his sleepwear and distracting himself with the swaying of his tail. As much as he liked the paws on his fox themed suit, it was rather troublesome when he really needed to use the toilet. But it was just so fluffy and comfy that he ignored that problem.

With the pillow filled tail in his arms once again, he made his way back to the ballroom. His eyes absently sought the sight of the moon outside the windows as he noticed the light coming from the glass windows. With most of the dust lights already turned off for the sake of the students' comfort, the castle-like interior of the school made a horror film-esque atmosphere as he walked deeper into the darkness. Either the school was really old or the person that designed the school made it that way.

But... even with the eerie feeling, the person who made the structures of the school might actually have been a romantic. They may have designed it for chance encounters of teens who would most likely venture the halls at night. Either from dares or other various reasons that teenagers would likely do in their young age. But what they didn't account for was the meeting to happen in a place where embarrassment would likely ensue.

Like the bathrooms.

Kouya turned around when he heard a squeak behind him. There, one of the Fauna was making her way out of the female restroom, her eyes tracking the black colors of his pajamas. She must have been startled. The suit _was_ made the same shades of the Grimm, so her reaction was a given in the dark hall.

They stood there for a moment, eyes looking at each other. One set was of curiosity while the other was of uncertainty.

And that was when the Country Fox met the City Hare.


	4. Love for Animal Parts

Alright, so I'm slowly, bit by bit, little by little, getting my Muse back. 7500 plus words! I'm almost back to my regular 7000 to 8000! Just a little more!

RnR please, just to help motivate me, I guess.

* * *

At the crack of dawn, Kouya was already outside of the school building doing his morning practice in a baggy pants and a long sleeved loose shirt. He had woken up half an hour ago when the first rays of the sun filtered through the ballroom windows. It wasn't that he was diligent, per se, but his body was already programmed to wake up at dawn by his overly energetic Mars mother. It was already an act against his Amakusa blood that demanded to stay in bed until eight or nine in the morning. But it was waking up early, or getting a cold splash of water in bed.

Then spend the rest of the day grumpy and snapping at everything that talks to you.

He didn't get much sleep the previous night and was moving through the motions of his fighting style half asleep. Yang had a knack of kicking and punching things in her sleep, and rolling to any space that was available for her. He had been woken up by a kick in the gut, then he saw the blonde girl roll to Jaune's direction and punch the guy in the nose.

Both boys woke up and went to different spots away from the blonde, just get back to sleeping again. It was all for naught, however, since the girl would somehow roll towards them and attack again in her unconscious state. It was until they decided to put Ruby between them and the blonde that the girl stopped all attempts to keep them from sleeping. Though that did leave Yang with so much open space than before and two guys trying to get comfortable and not accidentally waking any other students close to their cramped space.

Jaune was lucky to get back to sleep easily enough, but Kouya had to suffer from his new problem's cuddles. Ruby had found the fluff of his pajamas to be just as comfortable as he had, and decided to give the teen an uncomfortable sleeping position while she had her arms and a leg all over him.

The teen would have taken advantage of the position to get himself comfortable as well, but the mutterings of weapons and cutting flesh was just too disturbing when it comes from someone two years younger and was a girl. It was almost adorable... in a psychotic kind of way.

It was four hours and a bad back later that Kouya woke up, executed a ninja technique, and left the girl cuddling the empty pajamas that he shed that he was now absently hitting air while imagining the soft temptations of his sleeping bag.

But the fear of his mother suddenly appearing over him with a bucket of cold water kept him from succumbing, no matter how much of an impossibility it was for her to suddenly come to Beacon.

There was also that meeting that he had with the Faunus girl in the halls. It took several minutes of staring and silence before someone broke it by shuffling their feet. Both had stood straight for so long that their legs had gotten stiff. Still, no one said a word since she didn't seem to want to talk so he had already started walking back to the ballroom.

It was only 06:30 in the morning, and everyone else was still asleep, save for a few early risers like him. It was an odd experience for the country boy to see so few people walking about in this time in the morning. Back in his village, people would already be out training or caring for the crops by the time he was up, but it seems that city folks would rather sleep in than start the day early.

Again, the lulls of the sleeping bag called to him.

Kouya shook his head violently. Going back to sleep now would only make things harder to get up later. He really needed something to get his blood pumping.

He looked up to the dawning skies. The birds were already wide awake and singing in the trees. The fresh morning breeze was helping fight off his drowsiness a bit, and the elevated altitude of the school made for breath taking scene of Vale.

With his mind made up, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His muscles tensed and his Aura began to rise from his body. Breathing out, the excess Aura of his body created a silvery mist from his mouth following the exhaled air of his lungs.

"HA!"

With a cry of effort, his legs kicked off the ground and shot him into the air. Cold winds whipped his hair back and he felt his half conscious mind fully awaken. When his ascent began to slow, his Aura gathered in his legs. His Semblance was focused to the soles of his feet, and his legs bent close to his chest.

"Ha!"

With another cry, he kicked off once again and expelled a kinetic boom that sent him higher and higher into the sky. The kinetic movement upwards helped create a platform for him to gain purchase, and the continued movement from it functioned like a trampoline to propel him higher.

He was already well above the highest tower of Beacon when his ascent once again slowed. He relished at the moment of pause in the sky when he reached the peak of his jump. He leaned back and relaxed his body when wind began to pick up behind him and gravity started to pull him back down to earth.

Twisting his body, he pulled his arms and legs apart and went to face the ground below. The ascent was enough to wake him, but the blood in his veins still refused to pump faster. He wasn't high enough. His body knew that he could survive the fall with little difficulty. There wasn't enough exhilaration in this free fall, no surprise at all. That made a bit of discontent rise in him.

Curling his body into a ball, his Aura gathered. When the ground was coming close at an alarming rate, his body snapped straight and his Semblance fired.

His momentum was broken and he was back safely on the ground. His jump did its job by waking him fully, but it failed to make him feel the rush of the fall. It was disappointing that he could no longer feel the excitement of his own free-falls anymore. Back when he first figured out that he could do it with his Semblance it had been so much fun! But after nearly mastering it, it became just another jump. Unless it was off a cliff or off one of the closest mountains near the village, he really didn't feel any rush at all.

It was sad that what had been amazing before was now a normal occurrence.

If only there was a Grimm to kill for morning exercise.

* * *

Two hours later most of the students were all awake and getting ready for the task that Glynda Goodwitch had announced the day before.

Students were in the cafeteria or in the locker rooms getting prepared. Kouya had already taken his hearty breakfast and was already in his battle gear, save for his shin guards. His hood was up as he walked through the halls of Beacon, getting himself familiar to twists and turns of the halls and the locations of the classrooms.

Odd, though. There doesn't seem to be any other students in school at the moment. Maybe today was a specific event for the first years' arrival? It would explain why there weren't any curious upperclassmen wandering the halls to meet the fresh new bloods.

Kouya was really looking forward to using the training room of the facility. He wondered what type of training they practice for the school.

Turning around the next corner, his eyes met the sight of something that made his blood boil.

Two bulky, Human first years were preventing a pair of Faunus from passing them, one was a male with dog ears while the other was a female with brown cat ears. The dog Faunus was shielding his companion from the Humans, their size and height were enough to intimidate the two demi-humans, but what really made Kouya's blood burn was that the Humans had their weapons drawn, two war hammers fit for their size.

It looks like the pair of Faunus didn't have their weapons with them, probably still stashed inside the lockers that the professors instructed them to do.

Unfortunately, so were his.

Either the two demi-humans were lovers out exploring the school, like Kouya, or maybe they were new friends trying to get to know each other. Still, what he was seeing in the fearful eyes of the cat Faunus really sent him on edge.

"Look here, bro. Two dirty animals walking in the halls." The one on the left said. Kouya dubbed him as Dummy no.1.

"Yeah. And look, it's a cat and a dog. Aren't they supposed to be tearing each other apart?" Dummy no. 2 said. He looked at the dog protecting the cat and sneered. "Well? Aren't you supposed to be tearing her to pieces right now?"

Kouya scowled under his hood. He really didn't like where this was going. Looking up, he jumped and climbed on one of the hanging support beams of the castle-like ceiling. He jumped over to the next few ones closer to the scene and used all of his father's lessons in muscle control to prevent himself from making a sound.

"We're not animals, you idiot." the dog Faunus growled, showing his elongated canines at the two. "We're Faunus. Just because we share a few animal parts, doesn't mean we're savages."

"Ohh... doggy's got a bite in him." Dummy no.1 said, looking at his brother with a fake surprised face. "You think he's already taken his shot?"

The Faunus growled audibly, but his companion merely squeezed his arm to calm him down slightly. The pair of Dummies didn't miss the gesture.

"Would you look at that! They're a pair!" Dummy no.2 cheered to his brother. "What sick freak do you think would come out if these two screwed?"

"Probably a Grimm." his brother smirked, getting narrowed eyes from the Faunus. "But you never know. It might turn out into something more disgusting than the parents."

"Just leave us alone!" the cat Faunus finally spoke, getting the two brother to look at her.

"What did you say, freak?" Dummy no.2 sneered. "You should be grateful that we haven't put you down yet. Wild animals like you should be in cages where you belong, not walking around and wearing clothes and trying to be human. You're freaks of nature that should be hunted down like the Grimm." He hefted up his hammer, making the two Faunus step back on guard.

Dummy no.1 rested his own hammer on his shoulder, looking confidently at the two demi-humans. "You think they'd notice if some students go missing?"

"They probably wouldn't even be bothered in missing an animal or two. There's a lot more where these things come from, and I heard that people die in Beacon all the time." Dummy no.2 smirked at his brother.

"I guess you're right." Dummy no.1 held his hammer with both hands, cocking the slide of the weapon like a shotgun with his brother doing the same.

The cat Faunus paled at the implication, while the dog protecting her growled and flared his Aura at the two.

Kouya had finally had enough. He had heard everything that was said when he made it to the beam that was only behind the two idiots. He really had hoped that this was a simple bullying case, but this was getting out of hand.

The Faunus pair really didn't have their weapons. The dog just had his arms in front of him and ready to defend while the cat was behind him, looking very pale.

It seems that the bitterness from The Faunus War a few years back was still passed on to the newer generations. The Faunus didn't take it too kindly to getting herded to one corner of the world, but even so, the humans refused to give the Faunus the rights that they deserved and were still discriminated to this day. Kouya really didn't like that.

Some of his friends in the village weren't humans, but he still enjoyed being with them. This scene was just wrong.

Before anything happened that he would regret, Kouya leaped off the beam he was on and aimed his descent towards the Humans below.

The Faunus pair were the first to notice him when he made his move. Their eyes went up and saw the teen curl up into a ball and stretched his legs out. With two precise placements of his feet and Aura covered heels, the Humans didn't even know what happened before their heads met the concussive force of a sledgehammer dropping from the ceiling.

_Thud-_

Two bodies fell to the floor unconscious. It was only because the two humans activated their own Auras when the Faunus did the same that they survived.

Kouya flipped off immediately after making a solid contact with their heads, landing on his feet and a few distance away from the Faunus pair. Even if he was saving them, it wouldn't do to have them on guard against him. The distance should help them calm down for a moment and let what just happened sink in.

"Are you two okay?" Kouya asked, his hood masking his head making the two unaware that he was human. It would help them if they think that one of their kind was the one that saved them.

The dog and cat Faunus stood for a stunned moment before his words reached their ears. The dog Faunus nodded his head thankfully and wrapped an arm around his companion. "Y-Yeah, thank you."

"Thank you for helping us." the cat Faunus followed.

Kouya nodded to them before looking down to the two humans in disgust. The Faunus pair mirroring his expression with a bit of malice and hatred in them. Would people really go that far for discrimination?

"You two better go back to where everyone else is gathered. We don't know if there are other people like these ones right here."

Kouya went over to the War Hammers that the two carried and went to examine it. He was going to destroy the things and make sure that the two won't repeat this stunt for a while.

"What about you?" the Cat Faunus asked, regaining her nerves after she was sure that it was safe. "You shouldn't wander the halls here by yourself, it's dangerous."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." With a click from the weapons, Kouya was finally able to eject the dust bullets from the chambers. "The hood helps hide my face, and they tend to ignore or avoid people who are a little too secretive."

Standing up and putting the weapons over each other, he placed his foot down on top of them.

"What are you going to do?" the dog Faunus asked.

"This..."

Kouya flared his Semblance and pressed down with his foot. There was a small boom from his Semblance and the two Faunus saw the hammers suddenly snapped into pieces. Kinetic movement on a stationary solid object concentrated on a specific spot, plus the strength of his legs, the strain created was enough to break the weapons. It was a good thing that Kouya took out the bullets or else it would have been a bigger boom.

"What about them?" the dog Faunus asked with no little amount of hate as he pointed over to the unconscious humans.

Kouya paused... then frowned. What _was_ he going to do with the two? His eyes went over their hulking forms as he contemplated this. People like these won't learn anything unless they were forced to. No amount of kindness or reproach would ever make them change.

He actually contemplated on murder.

But that wouldn't do. He was out in the open and outside the village. He couldn't afford to be sent to jail, no matter how unfair it was. Still, he had to take care of them somehow.

"I'm going to sever their spine."

The Faunus actually recoiled at the statement. They stared at him with eyes wide.

Well... what _was _he supposed to do? He couldn't really give them a lesson when they're unconscious. He could wake them up, but the concussion that he gave them would just make them forget whatever he did. Maybe he should just break their legs instead?

"You will do no such thing."

Three pairs of eyes went down the hall and locked on the person at the end of it.

* * *

Ozpin had been taking his morning walk, the mug filled with eternal caffeine in one hand and his signature cane in the other when he heard the commotion down one of the halls. He was able to make out the threats of the two new students made to the Faunus pair. He was just about to announce himself when a black ball shot down from the ceiling and executed a perfect knock out blow.

Though a bit crude, it was at least effective.

He stood back and let the new student pass his judgement on the two brutes, and was slightly appalled by his decision. Yes, the treatment of the Faunus race had been very bad for a very long time, even before the war. It was only recently that they had started fighting back, but that did little favors for them. It only made society scorn them even further.

From the eyes of someone with little experience of the world, this was a terrible thing. But, even if there were people who wish to treat the Faunus with respect, they were only a minority in society. Most have adopted the stigma against the Faunus, and they care so little of how they treat the demi-humans.

The White Fangs also didn't help with that.

"Good morning, headmaster." the boy in the hood greeted. Well, at least he was polite, even if his methods _are_ a bit questionable.

"Good morning to you all as well." The two Faunus also greeted him with the same respect. His eyes went to the fallen students, then to their shattered weapons. Hmm, odd. Most weapons were usually durable enough to withstand even the grip of a Nevermore but not the claws of a Death Stalker, and to be shattered by a mere stomp was no easy feat. "Quite an interesting start for the day, isn't it."

The two demi-humans exchanged looks before turning to their savior. The teen in hood hadn't taken his eyes off of him ever since he made himself known. At least he has enough mind to keep himself calm even in a situation like this. There were probably only a few who could speak of crippling someone with a straight face, even fewer who could keep calm when caught in the declaration in the presence of someone with higher authority.

Interesting...

"May I ask your name, young man?" He took a sip from his mug, the small dust shards installed underneath it kept the heat of the blend constant. Truly a work of art. But let's get back to the young man, shall we?

"Amakusa Kouya, headmaster." the boy replied. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that the young man before him had professional training.

And indeed, he did know better.

There wasn't any successful business in Vytal that did not know of that name. Contractors that sought out the richest and most powerful men and women, offering their services for a... moderate fee.

In the world of business, there isn't a place where there would never be any oppositions. Corruptions are also a norm in most of them, with only a handful of honest ones that only took a matter of time before succumbing to the temptations of the darkness.

The Amakusa were a rare kind of mercenary group, along with their partners: the Mars. He had encountered some of them a few years ago, but they cared little of anything that wasn't connected to their jobs.

They were mostly hired for escorts, bodyguards... protections. It was a blessing that they never accepted any of the shadier dealings. Though the collateral damage that the Mars inflict to the surroundings irked most of their clients, but they still hired them nonetheless.

If this boy has any connections to that group, it would probably be beneficial for the school to keep him around. There are only few individuals who took their careers rather seriously like the Amakusa group.

"And what of you two?" he asked the two Faunas. They were already having a hard time in school, it wouldn't do to just dismiss them.

"Lloyd Black, sir." the dog Faunus stood in attention.

"Rusty Claim, headmaster." the cat Faunus introduced politely.

He nodded and took another sip from his mug. "Very well. Better be off now, the ceremony's only a few minutes away. It's best to get ready."

"And what of them, sir?" the hooded teen, Amakusa, asked. There was something in his voice that made Ozpin pause. There was a hint of... challenge in it.

He looked at the unconscious teens, then back to the boy, then over to the two Faunus. Ah... so that's it.

This was a good example of what most Faunus kind experience in Beacon. Not all of the staff were very fond of their kind, and most merely tolerate them. There were instances where things had gotten so bad that some students had almost gotten permanently injured. This was another example of those: where the Amakusa boy was contemplating about severing spines.

The victims weren't all Faunus, mind you. There were some cases that it was the Demi-humans that were starting the violence. Most of the time it was a team made up of the Faunus race. It wasn't very fun when the shoe was on the other foot, as the victims found out. Some upperclassmen even paid the price for their violent discrimination.

Back to the teen, he was probably wondering whether the two humans on the floor would receive punishment, or just a slap on the wrist. Ozpin really couldn't fault him. With society as is, it was hard to judge people when it comes to the relationship of the Humans and the not.

"You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Amakusa. I promise you that these two will expelled for their behavior, and with the destruction of their weapons, it should serve as a very good lesson for them. For the moment, that is." He took another sip from his mug, eyeing the boy for his response.

The teen's shoulder relaxed slightly, and nodded once. "Do you think that it would be enough of a punishment?"

Ozpin hummed and shifted his cane, tapping it on the ground for a moment. "This is the only thing I can do with my power as the school's headmaster. I am sure that you realize that we simply cannot change their minds and their treatment to the Faunus. The problem with these two lie deeper, I'm afraid. Too deep for strangers like us to reach."

The teen nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Thank you, headmaster. We should probably be on our way now. We only have a few more minutes to get ready."

Ozpin nodded, raising his mug to the teen. "See that you do."

He watched as the students walked away and head to the direction of the lockers. There were rarely any people who would stand up against the oppression of the Faunus. Either he was one himself or merely a sympathizer, it was hard to tell. The hood on his face kept his face hidden, so he would probably have to look at the student's records just to make sure.

But still. Face obscured by an object, dark clothes, professional gait, detached tone in words... He was definitely connected to that group.

Taking his cane up and putting it between his side and arm, he fished his personal Scroll in his coat pocket and called up a particular individual. "Glynda, postpone the activity for a moment, I have something I need for you to do."

On the transparent screen of the Scroll, the face of one Glynda Goodwitch appeared. "Is something the matter, headmaster?"

"Nothing major," Ozpin replied, his eyes going to the unconscious bodies and then back to the Scroll. "There was a commotion in one of the halls. Not to worry, it has already been rectified. I only need you to prepare a ride out of Beacon for two."

"Has something happened?" there was a hint of curiosity in the woman's voice. Though bothersome at times, Ozpin's tasks were rarely of small importance. Something must have caught his attention once again.

"Tell me, Glynda... what do you know of the Amakusa?"

* * *

Back to the mentioned teen and the pair that he saved, they were on their way to get their weapons. The two Faunus had promised themselves to never walk around anymore unless armed against people like the Dummy Brothers.

The pair had taken to talking to themselves while Kouya led the two. He was busy with his thoughts at the moment to actually pay attention to the Faunus that he had saved.

Relationship between the Humans and the Faunus were worse than he had thought. His parents had informed him that treatment outside the village was never the same to the demi-humans. It was hard for the Faunus to live out in the open and in most cities. There were only a few places where the demi-human kind were accepted and well liked, but those were mostly in villages outside of cities like his own.

Some Faunus of his age probably didn't know of the treatment because they grew up isolated from the discrimination. It would only take one journey to a city for them to know the life of their kin on the outside world. They might even join the terrorist organization of the White Fangs: The former radical political organization now turned into an armed group against humanity.

The Faunus of their village were still saddened when they had to cut all ties with them when they turned violent.

Kouya sighed and scratched his head covered hood. What was he supposed do when he comes across a similar scene like before? Would he help again, or would he ignore?

The Amakusa side of him wanted to ignore and pretend that he wasn't there. The scuffle had nothing to do with him, and he was never tasked to interfere in any arguments between the two races. Unless he was told to, he wouldn't even concern himself with it.

But the Mars side of him wanted to BREAK BONES when he sees a scene similar to it. Those who oppress the different should be prepared for retaliation. He wanted to inflict permanent injury just to make sure that they learn.

Humanity just didn't know how to appreciate the Faunus: Their superior physiology, their higher than normal senses, the night vision, THE CUTE FLUFFY ANIMAL PARTS!

Humanity needs to burn if they can't even appreciate that.

"Hey, Kouya, right?"

Looking behind him, the addressed teen looked to the pair behind him. "Yeah. You're Lloyd, right?"

The dog Faunus nodded, giving him a confident smile, a contrast to his earlier expression. "Yup! Lloyd Black, graduated from Signal Academy. This is my childhood friend-" he gesture to the cat Faunus.

"Rusty Claim." She nodded to him in greeting. "How about you?"

Kouya scratched his cheek uncertainly. "Well... I'm not really a graduate from anywhere, but if I had to choose..."

Let's see how his father's etiquette lessons would do here.

He stopped walking and turned to the two non-humans with his heels tucked together. He placed his right hand over his heart and his left arm crossed behind his back. He bent down slightly for a polite bow.

"Amakusa Kouya from Amakusa branch trainee, recommended by a traveling Hunter to attend Beacon for a full graduation."

Both Faunus blinked at the rather formal way of introduction.

"Sorry. This was how I was taught whenever I introduce myself with more than just my name. My father said that it helps to be courteous when doing business." the Amakusa teen straightened with his right hand held out.

"Well... that's nice." the male Faunus awkwardly said, hesitantly reaching out to take the offered hand with his friend doing so as well.

"But I've never heard of the Amakusa school before. Is that new?" the girl asked after releasing the handshake.

"It's not a school." Kouya said, gesturing for them to restart walking again. "It's more like a Private Family Security, thing."

"Oh..." the cat Faunus replied lamely.

"It's fine if you don't understand." the Amakusa teen said, waving his had over to the girl. "Just think of it as a family matter."

"Still, thanks for saving us back there." the dog Faunus said, smiling at the other male cheerfully. "Things would have gotten ugly if you hadn't swooped in."

"Don't mention it." Really, don't. There might be a chance that he wouldn't do the same the next time he sees someone getting bullied.

"Right." Lloyd nodded. "But can you believe it? Those assholes really might have been going for it! If I hadn't left Rabid Fang in the lockers I would have taken those bastards down."

"Rabid Fang?" Kouya asked curiously.

"My weapon." The dog Faunus admitted proudly. "My baby would have ripped those two apart like it was nothing!"

"It sounds powerful." The hooded teen said. He was a bit curious about what he said earlier. "You made it yourself, right? I heard from a friend of mine that students from Signal Academy make their own weapons."

"Of course! Everyone was required to make their own weapons. It's a rule in Signal." Lloyd boasted. "Even Rusty here has her own. Let me tell you, it's pretty scary."

That earned the dog boy a slap on his shoulder from the said girl. "Celestia is not scary." the girl huffed. "I based her from a gymnastic's ribbon. She's beautiful."

"Yeah, a dust powered, multi-jointed, electric whip is a beautiful thing for S&M play isn't it." Lloyd said humorously.

"She is not a whip!"

Kouya looked back to them, over his shoulder, in amusement. Both of them kind of reminded him of Ruby. They treat their weapons like a living thing, or a partner. He wondered if he would be like that with Piercing Veil in the future.

"We're here." Kouya announced.

Rows upon rows of lockers were lined up in one area of the school. There were about a thousand of them. Since Beacon was pretty famous, and students were only chosen by some of the staff or the staff of their previous school, teens had to perform their best just to get recommendation for admittance.

Of course, just because they were chosen didn't mean that they could slack off. Each year it becomes harder and harder to pass, and students who were not up to the task of combat, academics and survival were failed and sent home or transferred to a different Academy. And those were the lucky ones.

In Beacon there were instances of casualties because of the lack of training or talent. Classes were held sometimes on the field and missions were given to students who were capable of performing them. Those who neglect to better themselves often fell prey to the Grimm or has had to depend on their teammates to keep them alive enough to be shipped home.

It was a grueling curricular, but it serves it's purpose. There were hardly any graduates from Beacon who couldn't win against a Death Stalker by themselves. Tactics, Conditioning, Battle Experience and Brilliance were nurtured for years in the student's stay. Either they rise up to the challenge was up to them, but Beacon was no place for posers.

"I guess this is where we part." Kouya said.

"Whoa, wait." Lloyd held up his hand when the teen was about to walk away. "Shouldn't we stick close? You never know when you might need help if one of those Humans try anything again."

"Lloyd's right, it's not safe for a Faunus to wander by themselves here. Every human here seems out to get one of ours one way or another." Rusty pleaded.

Kouya placed his knuckle under his chin in thought. "Were things the same back in Signal for you two?" he asked curiously, looking back to the pair.

The two of the looked at each other, looking very uncertain. "No, it wasn't as bad as this." Lloyd admitted.

"It was only names and pranks, but it never went too far from that." said Rusty.

The hooded teen turned to them fully, arms crossed and his stance relaxed. "You shouldn't be too mistrustful of all the Humans, there are some of them that are also willing to help you if you let them."

The dog Faunus scoffed at the idea. "I doubt that. No one's stuck their neck out for us back at Signal. It was only us and the rest of our kind."

"Well, maybe this time it would be different?" Kouya said with amusement. "You're in Beacon now. Not every human here is heartless."

"You can't be sure of that." Rusty said sadly.

"And if there is one kind human out there, I sure would like to meet them." Lloyd muttered bitterly.

Kouya smiled and his amusement of the two increased slightly. "You'll never know if there's a kind Human out there if you don't give them a chance." he told them. "They're out there for sure, you just have to look in the right places."

With that, he turned around and walked away.

"See you later."

* * *

It was minutes later after taking out Piercing Veil from his locker that Kouya was once again letting his legs guide him to wherever they wanted to go. The two from earlier were really good people, it's just that they were surrounded by the wrong environment that they've become pretty pessimistic. Maybe later after the activity today he'd see them again?

Off by one of the lockers, he spotted a familiar figure tinkering with her weapon.

"Good morning." He announced politely.

"Huh?" the bunny eared Faunus looked up to him with a bit of startled surprise.

He simply smiled and waved before moving on, his hood still hiding his features. She was the one that he saw last night out by the bathroom. It was only for the sake of being polite, but anyone should at least greet the person they recognized when they passed them, or at least acknowledge that they were there.

The bunny Faunus gained an expression of puzzlement when he walked by. Maybe he should stop thinking of her as a bunny? But then again, his fondness to animals was probably bleeding off to his treatment to the other race. They probably wouldn't like that, but it's not like he could help himself.

That was when he heard a rather whiny and despair filled voice walking his way.

"Ugh, why does this have to happen today..."

Jaune was looking at a piece of paper, his eyes checking the multiple numbers on every lockers he passed by.

"Hey Jaune." he greeted the blond.

"Kouya!" he looked up in surprise. "Where were you! You suddenly disappeared this morning."

The hooded teen scratched his head, embarrassed. He forgot to come back to the ballroom after putting on his gear. He was pretty eager to walk the halls that morning so he neglected to tell anyone where he went. He just hoped that Ruby hadn't done anything to his pajamas, his favorite pillow was still in its tail.

"Sorry about that." Kouya apologized. "I decided to go for a walk but lost track of time." There was no need to tell about this morning's drama in the hall. No need to tell when it wasn't needed to be brought up. "So... what the problem this time?"

Jaune's eyes flashed suddenly when when he brought up the teen's dilemma. "That's right! Do you remember where I put my gear yesterday?"

"636?"

"Are you sure?!" the blond asked desperately.

In response the Amakusa pointed his finger to the side. Jaune followed the finger to a locker and looked at the number.

636

"Oh." the blond said rather plainly.

Quickly discarding the map, Jaune went up to the steel box and opens it rather violently.

"Aha!"

Whatever was inside, Kouya didn't know, he was rather busy trying to hold back his chuckles at his friend's very dramatic actions. He kind of remind's the Amakusa of the Mars from back home, of how passionate they were in their actions some times. He just hoped that he didn't have any high quantities of Aura or extreme durability to match his relatives.

Further up the path, Kouya noticed a rather large, noticeable amount of white by the path that Jaune had just walked past. There, he saw Snow Fairy was talking to a girl in an armor that kind of reminded him of what his Mars relatives would wear. She even has their signature fiery, red hair.

The teen suddenly had a flashback of his mother with similar armor walking towards him and carrying her gigantic buster sword for his body conditioning.

He blanched and shuddered in fear. His mother's ancestors must have continued on their line somewhere in Vytal, she must be a very distant cousin or something. His mother's family _did _break off from the original family line and adopted the last name of one of their rivals. Something about Greek and Roman rivalry.

Suddenly, Snow Fairy turned around to his general direction with a face that exuded 'Evil Plotting'.

Right. Pure color of choice, but not really the person themselves. Is there really something about big businesses that corrupts people, or is it the other way around?

Nevertheless...

"Hey, Jaune, it's your Snow Angel."

"Where!" The teen was suddenly by his side, looking in the direction where he was staring at.

"It looks like they're talking about making teams." From what his Aura enhanced hearing told him. "Maybe you could convince her to join yours?"

Kouya wasn't really the type to hate people, but when someone rubs him the wrong way..._ they rub him the **wrong** way_. That DERP face on the heiress also wasn't helping.

Slapping the blond's back, he pushed the teen forward. "Go get her."

In a snobbish stride that screamed 'Fake', Jaune walked his way between the white girl and the prospective relative of the Amakusa.

This time, Kouya chose to sit this one out. As much as he wanted to help out his friend and not make a fool out of himself, he really didn't want what the Schnee heiress wanted to happen. It's also a bit about helping out a possible relative in school, and not get swept by the machinations of people like the Schnee.

Watching the following play out was amusing to say the least, but a part of him couldn't help but feel bad for the Arc lad. His confidence was clearly fake, his tone was rather too smooth to be real, his dismissal seemed forced, and it was clear that he had his eyes on a target in the conversation.

In the Machina line of info gathering, this was a definite 'Fail'. If there was any definition of Manipulative Bastards, it's the Machina, not doubt. If it was them, they'd probably start by making the Schnee lower their guard around them. A little ego stroke to the heiress here and there, tell a little about themselves, THEN play it smooth, try not to dismiss anyone who wanted to join the conversation, maneuver the talk to making teams, tell about some of their most impressive but believable exploits and abilities, suggest in making a team with them, or hint to it, then viola!

Have them eat right out of your hands.

Machina, magnificent bastards, they were.

Unless it's against you, then you're screwed.

"Actually, Jaune, I think you'd make a great leader." the red head, Pyrrha, told the teen when his ignorance on how impressive the red head was came to light.

Then came a bit of realization.

Pyrrha had been interjecting her inputs in Jaune's conversation with the Schnee heiress: Saying hi just to say a word in, sharing her thoughts about the number of members for each team, and now encouraging the Arc lad when he was down.

This Pyrrha was a very kind person. She acts quite differently from the Amakusa's tomboyish of a mother.

Then there was her achievements prior to entering Beacon: Top of her class at Sanctum, Winner of Mistral Region's tournament four years in a row, and, to Jaune's elation, a person chosen for a cereal box model.

Mistral, though... he's never heard of it. It's probably where his mother's ancestors come from, but he's never heard a job from any of his Amakusa relatives going there. It's a blank spot in Kouya's information bank. Was there still bad blood between the Mars and their ancestral home, perhaps?

There was also Pyrrha's genuine bashful expression when Jaune suddenly realized who she was. From that, Kouya could guess that she hadn't had many _real_ friends back where she came from, or she didn't know anyone from Beacon that came from her Home and was probably awkward at making new friends.

Then the conversation made an abrupt halt when Jaune had his hood nailed to a locker.

By Pyrrha.

Yeah... she was probably awkward in making friends.

"Sorry." she said to the blond. Her apology was genuine.

The was a buzz in the intercom when the voice of Glynda Goodwitch came from the device. "Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Kouya took that as his queue to stand up from the bench he was sitting on where he made his observation. He noticed that Yang and Ruby were heading his way, with the younger girl holding his pajama in her arms.

"Good morning, you two." he greeted and started walking along side them.

"Good morning foxy-kins!" Yang replied. "We didn't see you when we woke up. We thought something happened to you when Ruby woke up with only your PJ's in her arms. What, did she squeeze you so hard that you got launched from your suit?"

"Something like that..."

Ruby went up to him and gave him his fox suit back, blushing slightly as she did so. "Here."

She had probably looked at the tail when she got the chance, but it's not like the Machina wanted that piece of technology to be a secret, so it was alright. Anyone could probably just look at an airships engine and figure it out. She was probably embarrassed about poking around a guy's clothes.

It was just then that they came up to where Jaune was lying next to a locker after getting nailed there by a spear.

"Having some trouble there, lady-killer?" the blonde bombshell beside the hooded teen said to the Arc lad. By the looks of it, she and Ruby were probably watching him the same way that Kouya had been.

"Don't be mean, Yang." Kouya chided, crouching down to help his friend up.

"I don't understand." the blond lad groaned. Kouya hefted him up to his feet and put an arm over his shoulder. His legs were a bit wobbly from the surprise and fear of the spear that came at him. "My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"

"He probably meant Natural Confidence, not Forced Confidence." The hooded teen shared unhelpfully.

"And Snow Angel _probably_ wasn't the best start." said Yang.

"Come on, Jaune - let's go."

Ruby walked ahead, followed by the others with Kouya helping the Arc hobble out of the locker rooms.

* * *

"Kouya..." Yang began as she stood beside him.

"Yeah?"

"Yesterday you said something about the 'Rise to become a Hunter or Fall from the cliffs of Beacon'... Is this what you meant by that?"

She, her sister, and the recovered Arc looked at the forest below.

From the top of a cliff.

A high, treacherous, cliff.

Near Beacon.

Aptly named Cliff of Beacon.

"No, Yang, this was just a coincidence."

"Oh... okay!"

"They're not gonna push us down there, are they?" The Arc lad asked desperately.

Then came Glynda Goodwitch with the instructions. "Please step forward and stand on each launch platforms so that we may begin."

Three different hands came up and patted the blond boy on the back, trying but failing to calm him down. The Amakusa feeling more sorry for his friend.

"Jaune, would it help if I said 'Sorry'?"

"No."


	5. EMERALD FOREST! Name only, no Gems

AN: Okay, so I was thinking of making a few drawings for each chapter if I could on my Deviant Art account. Don't get your hopes up, though. I don't have photoshop on my netbook or a scanner, just paper and my camera phone.

I still like to think that my drawing's good.

* * *

"Doesn't this just bring back memories?" Kouya muttered to himself as he stood in place on top of one of the platforms directed by Goodwitch.

The teen still had hood up and his arms crossed. By his side Jaune was looking very nervous at the moment, eyes shifting from his friends, the professors, then to the edge of the cliff.

Headmaster Ozpin was standing in front of the students, his mug and cane still in hand. Beside him was his assistant, Glynda Goodwitch, carrying a Scroll in the form of a tablet, swiping at its surface every few while, and waiting for the headmaster to begin.

Kouya noticed that there were only a few students on the cliff, too few to be the whole freshmen that arrived the day before on the multiple airships. He wondered where the rest of them were.

On the hooded teen's left was Jaune, looking skittish since the moment he laid eyes on the cliffs, next to him was Ruby, looking awfully excited and nervous at the same time, next to her was Yang, standing with her impressive chest up high and looking quite confident.

The Schnee heiress was also a few platforms away. Let's not forget about her.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors," The student's attention went over to the Headmaster as he began his speech. "and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Eyes went from the Headmaster to the Forest below. It was probably named after the color of the trees. In Remnant the forests, jungles and wild life were almost always of different colors. There was this Emerald forest, where most of the leaves of the trees were green. There was also the Forever Fall that the students had been talking about when the early risers had taken to exploring like the Amakusa did earlier.

Even the forest that surrounded the village where Kouya had come from had a name: Ethereal Forest.

The trees of the forest were colored of blackest of black. Trunks, leaves, branches and roots were almost always hidden, camouflaged in the darkness. Not even the light of the sun could penetrate through it's leaves, and the forest seemed to devour any bright rays that it touches.

But only in the day.

At night the forest comes alive. Bright, white glowing moss covered every inch of every bark of tree in the forest. The moss had been the reason why it was called Ethereal. In the morning when the sun was out, they would absorb all light from the day, bathing the forest in darkness, a black void if seen from a bird's eye view. At night, they would glow and emit light, illuminating the whole forest, like heaven's light piercing the veils of darkness.

The bright trees with black leaves gave off a feeling of something divine. The night sky peppered with the twinkling stars, and the moon smiling down on the forest. Every twist and turn, the more you look the more the trees seem to glow, mostly trapped under the darkness of the leaves.

It had been the reason why so many people would get lost in the forest, it was only safe to travel through it at night. Many had ventured it during the day in some foolish show of courage, like the Hunter that recommended Kouya to join Beacon. The place was also a Grimm infested deathtrap when the sun was out. Beowolves scrounge the forest, using their pitch black fur to cover their approach. Their exoskeletons were the only visible signs that they were there, everything else was hidden. But even _that_ was hard to spot in the light devouring darkness.

It was also the reason why the founders of Kouya's village created their village there in the first place. The natural defenses of the region was enough to discourage anyone with ill intent into coming after them. Like the Mar's departure from their original family, the Amakusa and Machina also faced a similar situation.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'." the headmaster's assistant said, taking her eyes off the Scroll and looking at the students present.

That had caught Ruby's full attention. The girl had been hoping to be in a team with her sister, or at least with people that she knew like Jaune or Kouya... maybe even with the Schnee heiress. But only as a last resort with the Weiss girl. She really wanted to make up for what happened the day before, but she was just too overbearing.

That was, until, Glynda's next words threw a wrench in her plans.

"Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... **today**."

The red hooded girl gave a squeak at the announcement. "What?"

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin added, taking sip from his insufferable mug.

Ruby was groaning to herself, unaware that it was bothering those who were close enough to hear.

Well, Kouya was at least getting bothered, but some people seem to find amusement in the girl's whining. Like other teen in armor with a bird emblem on it that was just beside Yang.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Ozpin delivered what seemed to be the final strike to Ruby's imaginary plans, like a glass mirror getting shattered with a solid object. Her cry of despair was mostly ignored by the students who were too busy preparing themselves for the inevitable.

Kouya really didn't see the distress in all of this. Getting a partner was actually _helpful_ for this task and was announced as a _necessity_.

The Amakusa were always taught to pay attention to the rules, follow them word for word, and never let it be broken unless in dire need (find loopholes if necessary). Like the contracts made by his family, Kouya follows a stipulation: The ones of his family and the ones made by society.

Most of the time he followed the rules of society but switches to his family's rules when something important was on the line. These rules were plenty, but were mostly selfish and for personal gain.

Rules and conditions are there as a guide, to make less mistakes, to allow people to proceed without looking back. That doesn't mean that they can't be broken. There are those offenders who break them on a whim, while others are forced to do it.

And really, a partner would be beneficial in the long run. They would be your friend, rival, back up, confidant, sidekick, and many more if you allowed them to. It's no big deal. He's heard that even some partners become lovers.

Opposite sex or not.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you **will** die."

The words were spoken with the utmost seriousness. But, probably, unlike the rest of the batch of fresh Hunter-hopefuls, Kouya was no stranger to these rules.

Mornings in the Ethereal forest were treacherous and dust consuming for their lights. If he failed to react to a moving shadow he'd be Grimm food. They had made clearing for crops and green houses, but it was still dangerous.

Unfortunately, every few years, there were arrogant Mars children who would venture the forest during the day. They were inexperienced, unskilled, and mostly of ages from Nine to Thirteen.

Kids are ignorant and stupid, but arrogance just makes them worse.

Four out of five, they would get saved by patrolling relatives, wounded and scarred, both emotionally and physically. Their mentality would then be forced to choose, not by anyone, but by themselves. They would either be traumatized to step out of the village anymore or their pride would swear revenge, get stronger, and never allow the same thing to happen again.

One out of Five, patrols would find the ravaged corpse of the children.

And unfortunately, Kouya had heard that there were three of them in his time living in the Village. There would have been a fourth, but fortunately she had someone with her at the time.

Looking down at the Emerald Forest from the cliff, Kouya at least knew that he wouldn't have any problems navigating through it. At least this time, he could rely on his sight as well rather than just his touch, smell and hearing.

Going through the Ethereal forest in the morning was like walking in a pitch black cave without a torch. Well, at least in caves the walls don't eat light and make everything look nothing more than a silhouette.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin said, taking out his own Scroll while pinning his cane between his arm and side. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

In response Jaune raised his hand. "Yeah, um, sir?"

"**Good**! Now, take your positions." The Headmaster ignored the blond and went to his Scroll. To his side, Glynda swiped her hand on her own device and activated the Launch Platforms. Most of the students unfolded their weapons, with Kouya doing the same for his shin guards. The rest opted to take a stance in preparation for the obvious launch from the tile that they stood on.

At the far end of the line opposite of Kouya's, the student that was standing on the platform was suddenly launched into the air towards the forest.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." Jaune continued, unaware of the next person that was launched again after the first. "So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

The platforms were quickly and rapidly launching students one after another, but the Arc lad still wasn't paying attention to the students thrown to the air in favor of his questions to the professors.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin said to the blond, completely ignoring the uncertainty in the student's voice.

Another student was launched.

"Oh, uh, I see..." The blond stuttered nervously. "So, did you, like, hand out parachutes for us?"

Ozpin leveled the student a look, noting that it was almost the turn of the blonde girl, Ruby Rose's sister. "No. You will be using your own 'landing strategy'."

Jaune nodded, pretending to understand the professor. "Uh-huh... Yeah."

Yang winked at her sister and puts on a pair of aviators before getting launched in the air with an excited cry. Ruby was next.

Unaware of his turn, Jaune-

"So, what exactly is a landing strateg**YYY**!..."

-was launched unprepared, like an uncoordinated doll into the air.

"And Mr. Amakusa." Ozpin started, getting the teen to turn his head to him. "Enjoy your stay in Beacon."

Raising a brow under his hood, he could only give a quick nod before he, too, was launched into the forest.

Seeing the last of the students gone, Glynda made to address her superior. "Professor Ozpin, are you certain that he is from the same group?"

"Very." the Headmaster said, placing down his mug on one of the boulders scattered on the cliff. "Have you no faith in me, Ms. Goodwitch?"

His assistant chose to not reply but instead turn her focus on her Scroll, where the last students were still preparing for their landing... or Crash landing. "Let's just hope that no one dies this time."

* * *

Kouya had his arms and legs closed together as he soared into the air. His blood was already pumping his veins quickly from the surprise of the launch. His lips curled into a small, slightly excited, smile as he spread his arms and legs to catch some draft and slow his descent.

His eyes panned over to the other students: some in front of him and some behind him. Those that were behind him chose for a quick landing, angling themselves to fall faster to the ground. The rest were taking their time and to gain distance, probably a strategy of some to get the partners that they wanted.

Gun fire made him turn to Ruby's position, using her weapon's high recoil to slow her descent and unfolding the scythe to hook to a tree for a safe landing. The Schnee heiress wasn't far away, using... some sort of magic circles as platforms for her to stand on and jump down from. Yang was-

"Woo-hooo! Yeah!"

Well... she was also the using recoil of the guns, like Ruby, installed in her gauntlets to get a better distance and evading some tree branches as she went.

Kouya turned back to the ground to find that the trees were coming closer and faster. Curling himself into a ball, he flipped forward a few times to control the angle of his descent slightly, targeting one of the branches of the trees. He snapped upright and allowed his armored feet to make contact with the branch, bending his legs slightly to absorb the impact. The branch, however, was too weak and thin to support his weight and the momentum of his fall, thus breaking off from the trunk of the tree.

That was fine, though. Kouya wasn't really looking for a branch to land on, he was looking for one that was just enough to break his fall.

With the speed mostly absorbed by the branch, Kouya used his Semblance to stop himself completely in mid-air by kicking down. Allowing gravity to pull him again, he landed in a dull thud on the forest ground.

With his safety secured, it was time to get his objectives straight.

First should probably to look for north. Since there was only one goal, he'd probably just meet someone on the way to the temple.

He decided to look for a clearing for now, and choose where to go after he finds the sun's position and judge the length of his own shadow. The trees weren't making it easy to decide which way is north.

A growl to the side made him turn to see what it was. He snorted dismissively at what he saw.

Beowolves

From what his Aura enhanced hearing could tell there were ten... thirteen sets of paws thumping on the ground. Kouya resisted the urge to just jump to the trees and leave the small pack behind. These were no challenge.

Compared to the camouflaged ones that he was forced to fight around the village when he turned fifteen, these were easy to spot.

His Village had a few traditions; events that children of specific families were supposed to do when they were deemed ready or are in the right age.

Mars had the tradition of pitting their children against wolves, both figuratively and literally. When a child of Mars reaches the age of fifteen they are forced to hunt and bring back the corpse of an Alpha Beowolf... during the DAY. If they succeed then they would be able to advance their training regimen and train alongside the adults and professionals of the Village. If they failed, they would be thrown again and again into the forest until they bring back the corpse.

Mind you that was no easy feat with everything pitch black.

With this tradition practiced all the time, Beowolves were getting harder and harder to hunt in the Etheral Forest, especially during the day. Kouya had to hunt for two weeks just to find the blasted pack and bring down the Alpha, and that was miles away from the Village. The rest of the wolves were left alone until the next Mars would have to hunt the new Alpha.

Also, with Kouya being the son of a Mars AND Amakusa he had to practice BOTH of their traditions. His Amakusa task was to camp in the forest for a whole seven days and nights with only half a week's worth of rations available. The trick was to stay hidden from any and all wild life in the forest, exactly like the Amakusa's shy nature, but trying to sleep at night in the glowing forest was a _bitch_, and sleeping during the day was just not safe.

Of course, Kouya wasn't the only one doing two tasks for their families. There were also other teens doing the same tasks and traditions, some of different hybrid than Kouya's Mars and Amakusa.

Looking at the Grimm before him now and compared that to his experience in his Village's forest, Kouya couldn't help but scowl. This was a waste of time, but it's not like these creatures knew better.

With the whirling sound of the engines inside his armored leggings and the click that made them silent, he beckoned for the wolves to come at him.

* * *

Velvet Scarlatina, a brown, long haired, rabbit Faunus, was not having a good day. But that wasn't really anything new.

Being a Faunus in an open human society it was a given to never have a _normal_ day.

Or a peaceful one.

She had been walking through the Emerald forest for a few minutes now, but she still hadn't met anyone yet. She had a few scratches on her body from her landing, but that was all. She avoided any and all signs of Grimm thanks to her powerful hearing, but that in turn made it her take longer towards north. She sincerely hoped that the first person that she finds was someone of her kind, or at least tolerant to Faunus.

Her history with humans wasn't really what you call as a Happy experience. She was already pretty shy and quiet since she was little, but the mental and emotional abuse that she's endured through out her life just made it worse. Her parents were loving and fiercely protective of her, but often times it brought trouble for them. She didn't want that, so she tried hard not to bring her problems to them, even if she got hurt for it.

School had been the place where her psyche really took a beating. It was only because of her fellow Faunus friends and the few kind Humans that helped her that she was able to carry on and even get recommended to Beacon. It was amazing to actually be picked. Unfortunately most of her friends couldn't make it, and her Faunus friends moved back to the Menagerie since they couldn't take the pressure or the treatment of their kind in some of the Academies' close by.

Not without support, at least.

She was happy that there were a lot of Faunus enrolled in Beacon, she even met a few herself. But what made her sad was that they isolated themselves away from the Humans, with only a few having friends from the other race.

Last night she had met an interesting person, someone from her kind, but with a different animal type. He was hugging his own tail when he was in the hall and was very silent when they met. It was pretty dark by then and he was hiding in the shadows cast by the halls. Her night vision had helped in seeing his face, but his costume really left her speechless.

It was... It was cute, she had to admit.

If his tail hadn't twitched in his embrace she would have thought that it was just someone with a weird pajama. He must have had his reasons as to why he wore a feetie pajama likened that of an animal. At the very least it went great with his tail. There were only a few fox Faunus in the ballroom that night, even less with the tail, but none of them was the one that she met in the hall.

Maybe she'll meet him again and maybe befriend them someday.

A loud crash a few ways away made her dive down one of the bushes for cover. Her rabbit ears easily picked up an on going battle somewhere close by, a convenient ability to have when planning to become a Huntress in the future. She wasn't sure, but maybe they needed help? This might even be a chance for her to get a partner.

Gathering her courage, she nodded to herself and cautiously made her way to where the battle was happening. But when she got there it was already close to ending. She chose to hide herself in one of the closest bushes just in case.

Beowolf bodies where scattered in a small clearing, with three more standing and awake Grimm surrounding a single figure. Blood was scattered everywhere, and some of the bodies on the ground had parts that were caved in. It was a scene that both terrified and awed the rabbit Faunus.

The hooded person in a black and steel motif that was surrounded by the wolves kicked one of the corpses near them to one of the standing creatures. With that properly distracted, they went and attacked another, with the last one coming at them from behind.

Velvet thought that the person going to attack the Beowolf that they were charging at with those armored leggings that they wore, but instead, used the Grimm as a springboard to back flip over the one charging from behind. With both Grimm now in front of them, the person obscured by the hood kicked the one closest to them and made the Grimm crash to the one behind it.

The two Beowolf were momentarily stunned and this time Velvet was sure that the person was going to attack. The creatures of darkness were both wide open.

She was proven wrong again when the person attacked the one that they had distracted earlier instead. That was when she actually saw what he had done.

Being surrounded from all sides, the person probably wasn't going to get out of that situation without getting hurt, even if they won. They used one of the corpses to single out the other Beowolf so that they could use themselves as a distraction, a bait, to herd the other two Grimm together. With those two now in the same spot and stunned for a second, they could now focus on the single wolf on the other end where the pair of Grimm were.

Velvet's rabbit ears twitched as she nodded to herself. That was probably what the person was doing. Now they had enough time to inflict a few damage on that single Grimm until the others regain their bearings to surround the person again. She might even have to step in in time just to keep the person from getting hurt.

Unfortunately for the rabbit Faunus, she had been so sure that the person that she was observing was merely going to inflict a few strong kicks on the singled out Beowolf that she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

The Beowolf had just shoved the corpse of its comrade off of it when it saw the armored heel of the person heading towards their head.

Velvet saw this kick as an attack to stun. She knew how legs work and how hard they hit, this one aimed to the head would probably leave the Grimm dazed to properly dodge the next hits after.

The foot connected.

Velvet nodded to herself.

The head of the Grimm flew off it's shoulders.

The Rabbit's eyes bugged out.

Next came the two Grimms that were left. They charged at the back of the person that killed their comrades, baring their claws and fangs at person's exposed back.

The Person didn't even look behind them when they quickly planted their raised leg down on the solid ground again and jumped, curl into a ball, flip in a curled moonsault, and with perfect placement of his feet, crushed the skulls of the charging Beowolves with a Aura powered heel drop.

Velvet's head immediately dove back down deeper into the bush that she was hiding in.

The-These were the kind of students that came to Beacon?! Impossible! Even her, a Faunus, with better physiology than humans, couldn't do that maneuver that _that_ person just did. Well... not without proper training and enough courage to actually _perform_ that kind of flip that_ low_ to the ground.

Was this person even human?!

No, wait! This person could be her partner! There wasn't anyone nearby from what her ears could tell, and legs strong as those could only be found from her kind. This might be her lucky day! Bu-But how should she approach them? Just walk out casually? But that make her look a bit snobbish and make the person dislike her! Ma-Maybe something else then? But she was already here! If she moved now, they might see her walking away and think that she didn't want to be partners!

Ohh, what to do...

"Hey."

"Eep!"

Jumping out of her bush with a surprised cringe, Velvet Scarlatina met the hooded figure of the person that fought- no, decimated- the Beowolf pack.

Both stood in silence, the Faunus feeling a sense of déjà vu as she stood there, stunned as she met his eyes. Yes, _his_, for this person had been a man. He stood in front of her, arms crossed as if expecting something. She was standing rigidly in place, the feeling that this situation had already happened was blaring at the back of her mind. Did she know this person?

* * *

Kouya had just taken care of the small pack of Beowolves when he turned to one of the bushes close by. He knew that there was someone there. Anyone with a good hearing could probably hear the rustling of the leaves in that particular spot when there was no wind blowing by. He knew that they were there just when he was about to finish off the remaining three Grimm.

Concerning the wolf pack, Kouya simply used the same tactics that he applied back in his Village's forest. With a strong and sensitive enough hearing thanks to his Aura, he was able to predict the locations of all Beowolves that surrounded him. It kept him from being ambushed, and he used it as an advantage while using his back as bait to make it look like he wasn't paying attention to that side.

Beowolves were opportunists, striking when they could, and staying their claws when they couldn't.

Now concerning this one hiding poorly in the shivering bush, and now out of that and into a ridiculously stunned posture, Kouya made sure to make eye contact with them, as per instructions earlier, to pretty much seal the deal.

"You are my partner, then?" he asked.

The girl, a Faunus Rabbit, the one that he met last night, took a long moment before she nodded her head a few times. He wondered if she was mute, given that she still hadn't a word yet other than that quick 'eep' from before. What did his mother teach him to break the ice between two people again?

No, wait, that one involved a fist fight. Kouya really didn't think that would help him here.

Well... his father did say that introductions were always first, and also showing your face as a sign of trust.

Nodding to himself he pulled back his hood to look at the girl fully and allowing her to see his face properly. He didn't miss the way her body suddenly twitch when his face was uncovered, but ignored that for now.

"Amakusa Kouya," he started, holding out his hand to the Faunus. "It looks like we're going to be partners for the rest of our stay here at Beacon."

He waited for a moment for her to take his hand, but after a long moment she didn't. It was awkward to say the least. She was looking at the top of his head and searching for something, even leaning to one side to look at something behind him. He really did not get this girl.

"Hello... miss?" Kouya began, waving his hand in front of her face.

"You're HUMAN!" the girl suddenly shrieked, stepping back and pointing one accusing finger at him with wide and shocked eyes. "Your tail was FAKE!" she added, as if an afterthought.

Kouya blinked once- twice before looking up into the sky. Was this really going to be his partner? Is this what it feels like to be discriminated? Was there a Dust Deity out there that he accidentally insulted for him to get this kind of treatment?

Turning around and pulling his hood up, he walked away from the Faunus girl. Well, there goes what little self-esteem he had for first impressions. Maybe he should just embrace the Amakusa way and don a mask like his other relatives. It would probably do the first impression for him.

Already a few distance away, he heard the girl call. "Wait!" She probably had enough time to realize just where they were.

Still, he kept his fast walk constant, never slowing down even as the girl ran after him. Why couldn't this have been easy like with Jaune on the airship?

Kouya stopped in his fast stride when he heard gunfire from somewhere in the forest. The Faunus girl taking the opportunity to catch up to him and standing beside him, her rabbit ears twitching. They both turned in the same general direction where the shot was fired.

"What do you think that was?" the girl asked.

Kouya turned back northwards and began walking again, this time at a much sedated pace. "A battle, most likely. It's better to get the mission done faster and get back to the school." he said dully.

"Oh... okay." the Faunus girl followed him sullenly. His dull tone sounded cold for the demi-human girl.

The silence stretched on as Kouya and his new partner continued their trek through the forest. The Amakusa easily navigated through the shrubs and bushes, being already used to uneven terrain from where he grew up. His Faunus partner simply followed his footsteps and copied what he did from behind him.

Every so often he would look at his partner, taking in her appearance now that they settled on a very lengthy silence.

She looked like one of those mages that he saw on video games, though her color seemed to focus more on red. Red cloak on her upper body for light protection, covering what she wore underneath; short red skirt for easy movement and stockings with comfortable and sturdy boots.

At least she was dressed for practicality and not for fashion.

"I still haven't gotten your name." Kouya began, breaking the silence while still keeping his eyes forward.

The Faunus girl was startled out of her thoughts about the hooded teen. She was keeping herself silent since from his tone earlier and his refusal to start conversation she thought that he was one of those Humans who were scornful of her kind. She didn't know that he preferred to be silent most of the time and just reacted or answered when needed. Jaune was an exception since he wanted to make first contact to the world outside his isolated Village.

"Um..." the Faunus girl didn't know how to make of his tone. He didn't sound demanding, or irritated, he just spoke out plainly. "It's Velvet... Scarlatina."

Kouya would have missed the girl's words if the forest hadn't been all that quiet. She sounded uncertain and her voice trailed of at the end. It seemed that communication was going to be a challenge between them if this soft tone kept up.

"Ms. Scarlatina..." Kouya tested her name off his tongue. "No. Velvet. If we're going to be partners from here on out it's better to drop the formality and move straight into first name basis."

The Faunus girl nodded meekly, but stayed silent.

Kouya sighed tiredly. It was like meeting one of his younger Amakusa cousins once again. They considered any and all that's not their parents as strangers, even other close relatives, but only until they got to know them. They preferred to be as quiet as the could and just disappear in the background, just like what Velvet here was doing at the moment. If he wanted her to reciprocate, he would have to be the one to start the conversations.

Damn humanity for making it harder to converse with the Faunus.

"If you didn't get it the first time, my name is Amakusa Kouya. Since we're partners now you can refer to me with my first name." Kouya's head turned to her, making his voice as kind as he could with his momentary professional mindset on the current mission.

"Um... Amar-Amakusa, then?" she spoke.

"No, it's Kouya. Amakusa is my family name." the girl started to panic, thinking that she might have insulted him. He calmed her down with a placating gesture, succeeding only slightly. "It's alright. My ancestors originated from the east, that's why my family name is pronounced first before my given name."

The girl nodded, calming down entirely, but was back to being silent. From there Kouya decided that, yes, he would have to approach this girl delicately.

Well, maybe it's easier since he could probably relate to some of her thoughts.

"Velvet," the Amakusa addressed her. "Since we're now going to be watching each other's back for the next four years, I have something to make clear to you. And no, it's probably not what you're dreading." he quickly added seeing as the rabbit girl tense. "Also, please answer at the very least when spoken to, it's only polite to do so."

The girl nodded- then paused. "Yes..." she answered quietly.

That was the one thing that Kouya was going to force on the girl. He was going to ask her to answer, even if it was of dismissal, a lie, or something else, at least he would know that she was listening and he wasn't just talking to air.

"Okay." Kouya nodded. "First of all I would like to make it clear to you that I do not in any shape or form hate, despise, or abhor the Faunus race. And No, I do not just simply tolerate them. I hold no ill thoughts, intents, or feelings to your kind."

He stopped in place just to turn to her fully, making sure that his message was getting delivered properly without misunderstandings. He saw that he had her full attention. Good.

"In truth I am very fond of your kind, I am impressed by your superior abilities and characteristics and would often times would wish to have your people's night vision." He looked her in the eye, making sure that she understood that he was being serious about the night vision thing. It would have been helpful back at home.

She turned away with a blush.

"I will have you know that I have friends from where I come from that are not human like myself, but I do not see them any lower than I do myself. They are dear to me and I would even go so far as to say that they are like a family to me in all but blood."

The girl was looking down on the ground, occasionally lifting her eyes to meet his serious ones under his hood. She really getting flustered by his attention as well as from the praises to her kind, and by extension to herself.

"What I want to make clear is that I see you as an equal, not a savage, not an animal, even if you are not fully of the human kind, I will not discriminate you, look down on you, or treat you any lower than myself. I just want to let you know that I have your back as your partner." The Amakusa son declared, holding out his hand to her like a deal waiting only for her consent. "Will I be able to trust that you'll have mine?"

The Faunus girl was flustered, badly, from the rather bold speech. She didn't know what to make of it and she certainly did not know how to react. This was the first time she heard anyone ever make that kind of declaration, and now it was made in front of her _to_ her. Ohhh why wasn't there anyone around to break this oppressive (to her) kind of atmosphere.

It was like a confession! Well, it _was_ a confession, but not of _that_ kind. She really didn't know how to answer back with words, but she was infinitely grateful that he held out his hand to her.

Looking down, face burning in scarlet, she shyly, meekly reached up to take his hand, all the while trying to hide her burning face behind the fringe of her hair and flopped down rabbit ears.

"Yes." Velvet answered, her voice nothing but a squeak to Kouya's ears.

In return Kouya smiled, an earnest and honest smile. "A pleasure in doing business with you."

Good. With this it would be easier to work with her. With no more fear from her Human partner, Velvet would definitely start opening up to him. It would do wonders for their dynamics and compatibility. If he got to know her more, maybe they could even become the best team in Beacon. Now there was an amusing thought. It probably cam from his Mars side.

Unfortunately for Kouya, he made a mistake in the placement of his hand. Instead of it being a firm handshake like it should have, he had mistakenly angled his palm too far upward. So when Velvet took his hand, she had her palm over his in a manner that seemed like a male courting a female.

That was what Yang found when burst out of the bushes with her own partner following closely behind.

All movements froze there and then as Yang's eyes went over to the Amakusa and Scarlatina pair. Finally her lilac orbs zoomed in to their connected hands and she squealed.

"A confession in the forest!"

The Amakusa son blinked at the girl, unaffected by the outburst of misunderstanding. If he convinced himself that even if it was a confession, it was of a different kind. A confession is still a confession, no matter how you try to deny it. The intent was just different.

Really. Just don't get flustered and take it like a man, it keeps teasers at bay. Unfortunately his partner wasn't thinking the same.

You could practically see the steam rising from the girl.

Or was that her Aura?

* * *

"You move fast, foxy-kins." came the blonde bombshell's teasing, wiggling her eyebrow suggestively.

Kouya and Velvet had joined up with the Yang and her partner, Blake Belladonna. Since each already had acquired partners, Kouya decided that it would be safer to travel in a group, while Yang decided that it was a perfect opportunity to tease her new friend about his new, cute, female partner.

Truth be told, though, she was getting a bit irritated that he doesn't seem to get flustered no matter what she did or whatever she implied to his relationship with the girl.

What she didn't know was that there was a reason that Kouya mostly had his hood up, and making him react unnecessarily was one of them.

Like most of his older family who chose to wear masks to hide their features and create a business persona, Kouya does the same with his hood. Like a child with his safety blanket, a sort of self hypnosis that convinces his mind that nothing could ever penetrate his defenses. With his hood down, though, he'd feel more exposed, and his emotions would also feel like they were bared to the world.

Kouya chose to keep the use of his hood a secret for now. Judging from Yang's personality, she'd probably pull it down every chance she gets just to get a jab on him.

Yang and him had taken to walking beside each other, feeling that she should inflict her brand of teasing on him first as a good friend. She was probably going to target his partner next, but one look from Blake made her postpone that idea for later.

Speaking of which, Velvet had taken to walking beside the enigmatic girl. Blake was a quiet girl, a silent, slightly serious type of girl. She had an air of professionalism that was hard to find in youth her age.

It was odd how Velvet seemed to take a liking to her. Maybe his speech earlier made her stop judging Humans at first glance?

Nah.

He wasn't that optimistic. Still, it was odd.

"So tell me, how did you two meet?" Yang asked the still un-flustered male. She was going to make him blush like last night, damn it!

"By the bathrooms last night before bed." Kouya answered, undeterred by how the girl seemed to like to dig for information just to embarrass him and turn him into a blushing wreck.

"Oho! A late night rendezvous by the privacy of the comfort rooms." Yang's smile turned mischievous, her mind already coming up with many types of scenarios that followed the hypothetical tryst. "Was that why you went to the bathrooms late? Just to catch the tail of some poor innocent maiden like Velvet?" she nudged her thumb over to the Faunus girl who was blushing up a storm beside Blake, her enhanced hearing probably getting everything that was exchanged between the two.

"That was coincidence." the hooded male shrugged. "It's not like I knew that there would have been anyone else out there that late."

"So you admit that you sank your foxy paws on the poor little hare last night?" The blonde leered, her lips stretching as far as they could.

"If by 'Paws' you mean my pajama's, then no. My 'Paws' were made of cotton, they wouldn't sink to any surface unless you put claws on it." Kouya replied seriously, fighting back the smirk that he wanted to make at the girl. If you want to banter with a natural teaser, fight back with literal fact with a hint sarcasm, they never seemed to run out of innuendos for some reason. Just throw those innuendos back at them with their literal meaning, it should help.

"You know what I mean." the blond moved closer to nudge her elbow at his side.

"I _don't_ know what you mean." They hurt. Her elbows were sharp and that nudge was not gentle. The hooded teen gave the blonde a mysterious smirk that could have meant anything.

In return the beautiful girl gave a sly look at him. "Aw, now you're teasing _me_!"

Behind the two bantering teens, Velvet was getting skittish at the topic of the talk. The mention of her name every so often really made her uncomfortable, even more when the blonde kept mentioning that she and her new partner had a relationship that was _more_ than what the school had instructed.

She tried hard not to pay attention to the two humans in front of her and tried to divert her focus on the person beside her.

Blake had been keeping an eye out just in case that any Grimm came close to them without knowing. They should really be as focused as the girl right now, but the blonde was _really_ talkative and just kept poking fun at Kouya ever since they decided to travel to the temple together.

She sighed dejectedly, her ears flopping down over her face as she did so. Now that the high of the confes- the declaration!- earlier had died down somewhat, she was still wasn't sure how to react to having a human partner.

Sure he may have said those strong words earlier, but the rather cold attitude when they first met- here in the forest, not in front of the bathrooms- kept coming back to her. Was she really going to be okay with him as a partner?

"You should relax."

Velvet's head popped up when she heard the girl walking beside speak.

Blake was still keeping her eye out in the forest around them, but she had sensed the Faunus beside her in distress and decided to break the silence between them.

"He doesn't seem like a bad person." she soothed the rabbit girl.

"Maybe." Velvet muttered, ducking her head back down. "I'm still not sure. I just met him and hardly know anything about him. I'm really _really _not sure."

Blake kept her silence for a moment. She couldn't blame the girl beside her. Amakusa Kouya was dressed in dark colors, like her, and his hooded head makes him a bit suspicious to any normal person. Even the way he walked would make people a bit suspicious if they looked closely.

Even when Yang had been talking to him, he hardly even turned to look at the girl's face and just kept walking on. The blonde didn't seem to mind as long as she got a response in return, and when she was beginning to think that she was getting ignored or dismissed, the hooded teen would turn to look at her and show an expression using only his visible lips and the girl would then continue on talking.

Another suspicious note.

The way he walked was quiet, a little too quiet even for her good hearing. Though it didn't look like it, he was tip-toeing instead of actually walking.

She had seen the footprints that he made. The front foot had a deeper indent on the ground than the heel, and the heel was barely even visible. Of course that in of itself wasn't really weird. The weird part was that the tip of his foot prints hadn't seemed to have dug any dirt at all.

When a person walks forward, the tip of their footwear would almost always dig up a bit of dirt when taking their next step. His hadn't. It was like when he walks forward he doesn't lift his heel first to do it, but rather take his whole foot up and dropping his toes first before putting the rest of his weight into his step.

He's had stealth training, that's for sure.

"You should give him a chance." Blake said to the rabbit girl. Maybe she and Kouya had something similar.

Velvet silently contemplated on the girl's words. She had no doubts that she could trust the dark and, admittedly, mysterious girl. After all, they _were_ of the same race.

Blake was definitely a Faunus. It wasn't really noticeable at first, or at all from afar, but after getting closer to the girl, Velvet was sure that Blake was a Faunus.

It wasn't anything visible. It was a bit from the way that she moved. It was like she was always on the prowl. Her steps are as silent as a predator and her amber eyes was a rather big clue. Maybe it was a bit of instinct that told her that the girl was a Faunus? The random, small, twitches that the bow on top of her head makes sometimes was also suspicious.

Nevertheless, she was thankful to have at least one of her kind close enough in case something happened.

Back up front, Kouya and Yang parted the next set of bushes and came out to find a small hill looking over an old stone ruin.

"You think this is it?" Yang asked her male friend.

Kouya shrugged and hopped a bit in place just to make sure that his muscles were loose. "Only one way to find out."

Walking down from the hill, the two pairs went and examined the stone pedestals of the stone ruins. Kouya raised a curious brow under his hood, looking at the gold and ebony colored chess pieces sitting on top of each one of them.

"Chess pieces?" Blake inquired out loud what was in everyone's mind. Velvet was still beside her, looking at the black King piece that also had caught Blake's eyes.

Yang was looking around. Some of the pedestals were empty, she noticed. "Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

Blake looked at her partner, and also made the same conclusion when she observed all of the pedestals present. "Well, I guess we should pick one."

Close to Yang, Kouya was looking under the pedestal, searching for anything suspicious before looking at the girl. "So... we take one and leave?"

The blonde shrugged in reply. "I guess?"

Kouya stepped back from the stone pedestal that he was observing and looked at each one. "Well, we should all at least be careful. This seems a little too easy."

The Rabbit Faunus blinked, stopping herself when she was about to grab the black King in front of her. "Now that you mention it, is this the only thing that we have to do?"

The Amakusa looked at his partner, shrugging his shoulder slightly. "Maybe? But just in case, let's grab something from the white side." he pointed to the golden colored chess pieces. "Something that's not Grimm color related."

Slowly, Velvet stepped back cautiously from the black piece on the stone stand. That was a good point. Maybe it was trapped? Like the stronger the chess piece, the more dangerous the trap that may come?

Blake had also chosen to step back from the black pieces. Better safe than sorry, at least.

"Hmmm..." By the white pieces, Yang didn't seem deterred at the mention of traps, but she was going to trust her friend on this one. She looked behind her and saw the closest white piece and picked it up suddenly and without care. "How about a cute little pony?"

The three other people on the temple looked at the blonde incredulously. Weren't they just talking about traps a few seconds ago? Why would she just pick one up without even checking?

Well. Since nothing happened and Yang was still in one piece, it should be safe.

Turning around, Kouya swung his arm quickly and swiped the Bishop piece off the pedestal without disturbing the rock. He held his arm up for a moment and waited for something, anything to happen. When nothing did, he relaxed and walked away from the other pedestals.

Just then, a loud and shrill scream echoed across the forest and temple, setting the four teens on guard.

"Some girl is in trouble!" Yang said. "Did you guys hear that?"

This cause of alarm set them all on guard, but Kouya looked around and saw nothing so it wasn't from him picking the piece up that caused it. He shrugged and didn't care. If it wasn't there then what's the point of worrying. The mission was clear, he had a 'Relic', and all that's left is to get it to the cliff.

"Blake, did you hear that?" the blonde cried in alarm to her partner. "What should we do?" when she looked at Blake, she found that her partner and the rabbit girl were looking up at the sky.

She blink stupidly at their rather lack of response, then looked to Kouya, who was also looking up at the sky but with a rather amused smile on his face.

Yang really didn't get what they were looking at, but decide to see what was literally up. She turned her head to the sky and- she corrected herself.

It wasn't what was up that they were looking at the sky. Rather, it was what was going down.

"Heads uuuuuuuup!"

Falling from a very lethal height, her cute, lovely, and beloved little sister was flailing wildly as she descended upon them.

"Think she'll make it?"

Yang's suddenly blazing red eyes snapped over to the hooded male, who was still looking at her falling sister. Ruby better makes it, or else she was going to take it out of his hide just for making that comment.

* * *

**AN: Yay.**


	6. A Battle of Drama

AN: ALRIGHT! Velvet's weapons finally revealed in this fic! I know it ain't original, but, be easy on me on this, their personalities just mesh a bit too much. I made her cloak almost similar to the character that I stole her weapons from, but the clothes beneath it is different from that character's standard uniform.

Near the end of the chapter, however...

I may have put a bit too much drama. But with only a vague idea and what little information I was able to collect about the Faunus, it kinda all pointed to that direction.

Faunus War = They were never really liked.  
Protesters = Even now they're still not liked.  
White Fang's reputation = Things only became worse.  
Cardin's treatment even in school (Beacon at that) = Abuse was a norm.

Also for reference of what Velvet looks like, check my profile to see if you're having trouble imagining what she looks like.

Read and Review guys! Show me your love and Hate!

* * *

Velvet Scarlatina was glad that they already found the temple and obtained one of the relics that the Professors instructed. The only thing that she and her partner needed to do now was go back to the cliffs and present the relics themselves.

But after Kouya took their relic from one of the pedestals, a loud and terrified shrill echoed from the forest. She was rather confused when she heard it, though.

The shrill was very high pitched, but for some reason her mind wasn't sure if it was really a girl that made the terrified noise. It's like something was convincing her that no girl who got into Beacon would make that kind of scream, no matter what kind horror they encountered inside the forest.

Not even _she_ would make that kind of yell.

But then again, she'd probably just let out a squeak before making a run for it if she ever ran into whatever caused that person to reach that kind of pitch.

Then a shift in the wind made her Faunus ears twitch. She blinked in mild confusion when she didn't immediately figure out what it was. She turned to the other Faunus that was present in the temple to ask if she also heard the shift but found Blake looking up into the sky. She was about to ask what she was looking at but the shift was getting louder and louder, and it was coming from where Blake was looking at.

It also seemed that her partner had heard it, because she saw that he also looked up the same time that she did.

Blake's partner, Yang, was too busy being alarmed from the terrified shriek that she didn't seem to notice what the two Faunus and the lone male had heard.

The rabbit Faunus' hooded partner seemed to turn amused at what he was seeing, but Velvet and Blake were just staring with a bit of incredulity and confusion.

When Yang turned to where everyone was looking at, she immediately saw what caught their attention.

There was a girl falling from the sky. She looked rather panicked and was flailing wildly as she came closer and closer to the ground.

Kouya made a comment about if the falling girl would come out alive when she hits the their level. Just after the boy finished his words, the blonde girl with them was suddenly directing malicious intent at the rabbit Faunus' partner. Kouya didn't seem to mind, or was just ignoring it in favor of keeping his eyes on the falling girl.

Velvet looked at the angry blonde, who was glaring at her partner, before looking at the falling girl again.

Then she looked back to Yang.

Then the falling girl.

Then to Kouya.

And finally, over to Blake.

Wasn't anyone going to do something to help the girl break her fall or something? It looked like Yang knew the girl, but why wasn't she even getting ready to catch her? The very least she could do was look at the falling girl.

It was at that very moment that she hear another shift in the air. This time it came from the forest.

In a blink of an eye the falling girl was suddenly smacked by a blond projectile. They were carried by the momentum of the blond all the way to one of the closer trees to the temple. Velvet winced when they sank under the leaves, with Blake, Yang, and Kouya imitating the expression as well.

The girl- Velvet now clearly saw that she was wearing a red cloak with a hood- sat on one of the thick branches of the tree looking dazed. The projectile now revealed himself to be a blond guy wearing an armor and was currently dangling from one of the upper branches from where the red cloaked girl was sitting on.

"She's safe now, at least." Kouya muttered dismissively earning a rather irritated twitch from Yang. After seeing the girl on the tree, he walked up to Velvet, who immediately looked embarrassed all of a sudden as a flashback of the earlier declaration in the forest rushed to her. "Here."

The rabbit Faunus blinked, her embarrassment forgotten at the moment, when her partner held up the white bishop piece to her. She looked up and met his serious stare/glare looking down at her from their difference in height. She unconsciously held up her palms when he moved the Relic towards her, placing the white chess piece in her possession.

"Let's work together to keep it safe until we get to the cliffs."

Velvet stood in stunned silence as her partner stepped back from her, his eyes observing her reaction.

Why did he give her the Relic?

She didn't know the reason, but Kouya was actually doing this as a sign of trust, a way for her to ease up around him further, for him to show that he trusted her and that she could trust him as well. Some would say that it was a bit underhanded, that he was playing too much with the girl's emotion and that he should just wait for her to come around naturally, but he couldn't afford to waste that much time just for her to have faith in him. The faster he gains her trust, the sooner it would be for them to work on their teamwork together.

He would support her just as how the Amakusa support the Mars.

For the Faunus girl, this was a rather conflicting act. A recently acquainted stranger... a recently acquainted _Human_ stranger, was giving her the object that would decide if they would pass the schools initiation or not.

She made an audible gulp as she looked at the piece in her hands, then her eyes sought her partner's own. She saw that he wasn't going to take it back. This was a big responsibility. It made her think that maybe he was just waiting for her to screw up just so that he wouldn't continue to be her partner anymore.

But his words in the forest made her rethink about that idea.

All she could do was nod and accept the piece, quickly hiding it under her own scarlet cloak.

Beside the rabbit Faunus, Blake silently observed this exchange. Unlike the rest of her kind, she was willing to give anyone a chance to prove themselves. Not everyone was the same, and cruelty comes with both races.

Most Humans were cruel to Faunus; that was a fact. What others didn't see, or neglected to notice, was that there are also Faunus who hate humanity just as equally.

Case and point: The White Fang.

She could see that Amakusa was trying hard to reach out to Velvet, but with the girl's outward personality, it was a delicate touch-and-go situation. One wrong move, one misunderstanding, and whatever headway Kouya made would most likely go down the drain.

Still, he was doing a pretty good job so far. That was a plus in her book.

Yang, on the other hand, had both hands covering her mouth, physically stopping herself from making any noise. Internally, though, she was gushing like a school girl.

Such romance!

Such drama!

She was going to tease the hell out of Kouya later for this. She had already forgiven him for making that casual dismissal of her sister's life since Ruby was already safe. Now he goes presenting her with this juicy scene! If she didn't know that Blake would probably give her dirty looks if she gave the Velvet girl the same treatment, she would have been all over them by now.

But like they say: 'Patience is a virtue'. Or something like that.

Just you wait, Kouya. After this test, Yang was going to make him blush so hard he'd put Ruby's cloak to shame. This was practically gold!

Just then, a loud, bestial, roar emanated from the forest. The two pairs of Beacon students tensed and faced the line of trees where the roar originated from. An Ursa Grimm rammed its way into the clearing, swiping its claws in the air threateningly.

Before the teens were able to move into their battle stances, a bright pink light flashed from the back of the Ursa. The Grimm froze for a moment in its advance in the clearing before falling down to the ground, dead.

As the beast's corpse tumbled forward, Velvet and the others saw that there had been someone riding on the back of the Grimm. When the Ursa fell, the person, a girl, tumbled forward from its back and rolled to the ground in front of the dead beast. She sat there for a moment, looking dejectedly at her ride's abrupt stop.

"Aww, it's broken."

Looks of incredulity began to spread amongst the four students who witnessed the act and heard the words. Velvet was reeling a bit from the energetic human. She remembered Kouya's low, contorted moonsault when he finished off those two Beowolves. Now she's looking at a human, a girl at that, who used one of the Ursa Grimm as a joyride to the temple. She was a bit intimidated just by thinking what the others around her could do.

From behind the corpse of the Ursa, another human jogged his way to its side, panting tiredly from probably chasing after the bear Grimm. This was probably the girl's partner. Said girl had taken her time to inspecting the corpse, like a child wondering why her toy suddenly stopped working.

"Nora," the tired looking guy said as he leaned against one of the spikes of the dead Grimm. He was probably addressing the girl. "Please... Don't ever do that again."

He looked up, only to find the girl gone and leaving him to look frantically around for her.

The girl, Nora, had made her way over to one of the pedestals in the temple while the guy was still trying to catch his breath. She looked at the white Rook piece with unbidden interest, similar to how a child would look at a new toy that caught their attention.

"Oooohh..." She quickly swiped away the piece and began singing: "_I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle~!_" while balancing the Rook piece on various parts of her body.

"NOH-RA!" came the exasperated and slightly irritated shout from the tired looking human by the dead Ursa.

Nora stopped her dancing with the Relic balanced on top of her head and looked to where her partner was at. "Coming, Ren!" she saluted with the piece on her head tipping over and falling down to the ground, only of her to blindly catch it behind her back. Without a care in the world, Nora started skipping over to her partner.

The four teens that were there earlier than the pair were looking at the two stupidly, but Kouya was chuckling a bit at the two, remembering his first arrival after exiting the airships.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked her partner uncertainly. Kouya, all of a sudden, had the biggest grin Velvet had seen him make since she met him.

Yang made to answer her partner but was distracted when another line of trees to their right were suddenly uprooted by a giant scorpion Grimm: A Death Stalker. It was chasing a girl with red hair in an armor not native of Vale.

"That can't be good." Kouya commented as he saw the red haired girl barely dodging the claws of the Grimm when it snapped at her head.

"Jaune!" the chased girl shouted over to the tree where the dazed duo were on.

"Pyrrha!" the blond male dangling from the branch returned.

The red cloaked girl jumped down from the tree after she shook away her daze.

"Ruby!" called the blond again on the tree as he saw the girl jump down without him.

Said girl landed by the four closest to the temple, a few steps away from Yang. The blonde spread her arms to greet the girl, looking glad that she was safe. "Ruby!"

"Yang!" the now identified Ruby called out in return, spreading her arms to embrace the blonde.

"Nora!" a sudden interloper popped up between the two girls and surprising them enough to knock them off balance. Nora sneaked in between the two girl's when everyone suddenly started calling out a name, not really wanting to be left out of the fun.

By the edge of the clearing that surrounded the temple, Pyrrha was still being chased by the Death Stalker. Kouya was just observing them casually, for some odd reason, and doesn't seem to fear the rampaging monster. His eyes were more focused on the red haired girl than the Grimm chasing it. Why, Velvet had no clue.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked the Amakusa and Scarlatina pair, who seemed to be the only people present who didn't have anything to comment on.

"It could be worse." Kouya muttered unhelpfully, suddenly looking at the heavens.

"At least we're not alone." Velvet added, copying her partner's action to the sky.

Not far from them, Yang had just gotten her balance back and was looking around the clearing. Her Aura was bubbling around her body and her eyes were slowly turning red. "**I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something _crazy_ happens again?!**_"_

Queue two second cooldown. Yang was standing still and waiting, Nora was shifting happily in her place close to the group like a child in a toy store, her partner had just made his way over to her and was still panting tiredly, Pyrrha was still being chased in the background, Jaune was still trying to get himself untangled up in the tree, Blake, Velvet, Kouya and Ruby were all looking up at the sky for some reason.

"Umm... Yang?" Ruby started tugging on the girl's clothes while pointing up.

The blonde sighed in exasperation and turned to where the red cloaked girl was pointing at.

Thanks to her better senses, Velvet could easily see the gigantic bird Grimm flying in the sky. She was also able to make out the white figure clinging on to one of it's claws. Thanks to her enhanced hearing, she was also able to hear what the girl was saying.

"How could you leave me?!"

It was muted, but it was there.

And as if hearing the girl's plight, Ruby replied. "I said 'jump'!"

The flying Grimm must've been the reason why she had been falling from the sky earlier.

"She's gonna fall." Blake said suddenly, crossing her arms and observing quietly.

"Any time now." Velvet added, idly playing with her fingers since there wasn't much to do other than stand.

"She'll be fine." Ruby said confidently, but her uncertain expression told them otherwise.

"She lost her grip." Kouya commented, pointing up at the girl.

"She's falling." Ren concluded.

Jaune had finally gotten himself out of the tree and saw the girl in white coming in fast towards the ground. With a spark in his eyes that was obvious to anyone who saw it, he leaped out of the tree and caught the falling girl in his arms.

"Just... dropping in?"

There was a simultaneous face-palms all around when the words clearly traveled to everyone's ears.

When the blond and the albino finally started to realize that they were still in mid-air, realization struck. They both clung together like glue as gravity took hold once again.

In an unconscious act of chivalry, the blond maneuvered himself under the girl and was the first to meet the ground.

Belly-flop

Then the girl landed on his, thankfully, armored back.

_Crack-!_

"My hero." Came the girl's sarcastic voice as she checked her nails and uncaringly sat on the blond.

"My Back." Jaune groaned, almost crying in tears at the girl's tone and weight.

"My friend." Kouya deadpanned from where he was with the other teens.

"My partner." Ruby said glumly, slouching a bit as Pyrrha once again passed in the background.

"Alright, can we please stop that now?" Yang said, her brow twitching irritably at the gag that seems to get repeatedly used today.

It was then that Pyrrha was smacked by the Death Stalker's claw and was sent all the way to where the other teens had been standing close to each other. They looked down at her and then to the Grimm that sent the girl to them. The giant scorpion seemed to be rejoicing on its own as it finally caught it's illusive prey.

Yang clapped her hands together in a sarcastic cheer. "Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"

Ruby was looking at Pyrrha's groaning form just as Yang made the announcement. The girl's eyes suddenly lit up with determination when she looked back to the blonde beauty.

"Not if I can help it!"

Yang's eyes widened when Ruby unfolded her weapon and charged at the on coming Death Stalker just as it finished it's triumphant cry. She and Kouya went to grab her, with only the male teen's hand barely catching the girl's red cloak, but she slipped through in a shower of rose petals.

The cloaked girl went to meet the scorpion Grimm out in the flat plains of the clearing, dashing with amazing speed and using the recoil of her scythe-gun to propel her faster towards the target. The Grimm had already been on it's way and saw the girl coming at it. With the beast's battle cry, it raised it's claw up in the air and swung down.

* * *

Kouya clicked his teeth under his hood as he saw Ruby charging at the Death Stalker. Yang was already going after the girl, but no one else seems to bother following.

His head turned up to the circling Nevermore up in the sky and scowled deeply. This wasn't good. He looked at all the people there at the temple with him, all who had decided to just stay in their place. Nora was helping her partner, with Pyrrha doing the same with Jaune. Blake was keeping close to Velvet, and the rabbit Faunus didn't seem to mind being so close to the girl.

Wait. Where's little Miss Snow Fairy?

Kouya looked back to Ruby's failed attempt to kill the Death Stalker. The girl had been knocked back by the thick claws of the Grimm and wisely decided to retreat after losing all of her momentum. The Nevermore in the sky had finally circled back after dropping off the Schnee heiress on their laps and had pinned Ruby's red cloak to the ground using it's hardened feathers that it used as projectiles.

This had been what he was talking about when he mentioned that the clothes wore by Hunters must be functional and practical. Unnecessary strips of cloths would, almost always, get caught in a Grimm's attack, catching the person off guard and leaving a momentary gap in their defense.

He clicked his teeth and braced himself for the inevitable. The scorpion Grimm loomed over the cloaked girl, while Yang had been stopped by the barrage of feather's that the Nevermore used to pin the younger girl to the ground. He was too far to help and his only projectile wouldn't make it or was it strong enough to halt a Death Stalker's stinger.

Then his eyes tracked the sight of white figure gliding at extreme speeds, heading towards the pinned girl. With a deep inhale from the rest of the group present, they looked on with bated breath as the Grimm's tail came down. They were too preoccupied with the impending doom to notice the figure heading Ruby's way.

Just as the stinger was about to impale the Rose girl, a blast of ice sprouted in between the Grimm and the girl; the giant scorpion's stinger getting encased in the ice.

Everyone by the temple released a sigh of relief when the girl was saved. Up in the sky the Nevermore cawed and went to send another barrage of feathers at Ruby and her savior, uncaring for it's monster kind who was in the range of it's shot. Nobody missed this, but most of the teens were either still catching their breath or supporting their partners, and the last few that were free didn't have anything strong enough for a distraction.

Then, in an act that surprised everyone close to the temple, even more so for Kouya and Blake, Velvet finally took out her weapons, aiming them at the in coming avian Grimm.

Two large barreled, dual pistols of silver color were pointed at the Nevermore.

"**_Bolverk!_**"

Two fingers squeezed the triggers of their respective guns so fast they could have easily mistaken them for an automated rifle. The Grimm was peppered with a spray dust bullets with enough force to send it a few meters away from the temple, forcing it to round back and gain momentum for it's next feather barrage.

The rabbit Faunus held her aim for a moment with the barrels of her guns smoking from the heat of her stream of fires. She waited for the Grimm to persist in it's attack, but when it doubled back she lowered her arms and sighed in relief.

Just behind her, Kouya was grinning broadly at his partner with a slight glint in his eyes. It was just his luck! A long range partner to compliment his close to mid range fighting.

The other teens on the other hand were covering their ears desperately. Even Kouya's more sensitive sense of hearing was deaf at the moment, but he could ignore that for a moment to appreciate Velvet for now. The continuous fire was deafening to anyone unfortunately close enough; i.e them. Even the rabbit Faunus slid a few inches after her barrage from the recoil of her guns.

What arm muscle she must have for firing those large pistols. Kouya was definitely not regretting anything from now until his graduation. If he was partnered with Velvet, then he was more than happy to be her pair.

"Ow... my ears."

Jaune's complaint was heard and seemed to have been enough to snap the Faunus girl out of her focus. She turned to him and noticed that everyone was also holding their ears or cleaning them out.

"Sorry!" she quickly apologized.

"Ren, I think I'm deaf!" Nora shouted to her partner happily. Even the thought of losing her own hearing didn't seem to hamper the girl's energy or her outward ditziness.

"What!" her partner cupped his own ear towards her, but instead of an answer he got an earful of air instead when the girl blew in his cupped hand. "Nora!"

The girl giggled happily when she saw his reaction.

Jaune had both of ears cupped and was waiting for the ringing to stop in them. His partner was shaking her head and still trying to regain her bearings. She had been smack quite a distance first, and before she even recovered, her ears were assaulted by a round of large and deafening bangs. She can't seem to get any break today.

Blake had her arms over her head and was ducking away from the rabbit girl. She didn't seem to be the type to get spooked by gunfire, so Kouya was wondering why she was like that.

Velvet was too busy apologizing to everyone that she seemed to ignore the fact that not all could hear her at the moment.

Kouya had already forgotten Weiss' impressive save to Ruby in favor of his partner. He was only reminded that they were still alive by the fact that they were making their way back to the temple.

"Whoa, did you just scare away the Nevermore by yourself?" Yang was looking at Velvet. She had seen the barrage after the first bang rang out in the clearing. The continuous _fire_ had been impressive, and she had never pegged the girl to have that kind of weapon, or _fire_ power.

Get it? _Firing a gun_?

Kouya slapped himself on both cheeks. It seems that he's being influenced by the blonde a little too much that he's even trying to make a pun for her in his head. Or maybe his deafened sense was messing with his head.

Jaune had been keeping his eyes on the Grimm close by. The giant scorpion was still trapped, so they still had time before it breaks free. When he looked up to the other Grimm in the sky, he saw that it was already swerving to the side and turning.

"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?"

Indeed it was circling back, and it looked very angry. Unfortunately the person responsible for it's anger was back to her usual, unfocused self and was looking like she didn't know what to do. Velvet was looking around frantically and was panicking instead of pulling out her guns again.

It seems that the girl had an unconscious trigger to become awesome when the opportunity presented itself but mostly stayed as the skittish little Faunus that Kouya had met in the forest.

Maybe he could get her a hood, like him. It does help him focus to become his serious persona, maybe it'll work for her?

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." the Schnee heiress said. Though she may not have looked it, but she was a bit miffed that her rescue was outshined by the rabbit Faunus. When she had rescued the Rose girl, she found that everyone was looking at Velvet instead, completely forgetting her, Yang and Ruby by the Death Stalker in favor of the Faunus and her smoking silver pistols.

But this wasn't the time for impressing people, even though she knew that the professors in Beacon were probably watching them and were evaluating their prowess, the goal was in front of them and Professor Ozpin never said anything about not allowing a tactical retreat.

Fortunately the Ruby girl was of the same thought. She gave the heiress a nod before addressing everyone. "She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live," the Arc lad piped in. "that's an idea I can get behind!"

He and Ruby immediately went to the pedestals; Ruby taking the white Knight while Jaune took the white Rook.

Kouya was looking at the forest, keeping an eye out for any other Grimm that would suddenly break out of the clearing and would start charging at them with abandon. He and his partner already had the Bishop.

The presence of the Nevermore and the Death Stalker were usually enough to deter any smaller Grimm from coming closer, but there were some that were desperate enough to waltz into their territory in hopes of finding scraps and leftovers of the bigger monsters.

It seemed that the combined presence of the two large Grimm were enough to scare away even those brave enough to take a peek at the area.

"Time we left!" Ren called out when Ruby and Jaune were able to take their pieces. The Death Stalker was already breaking loose from the ice that held it. The cracks on the surface of the ice was enough warning.

"Right." Ruby agreed, motioning for everyone to move. "Let's go!"

Kouya made no move to follow, something that Velvet noticed. The Faunus was getting swept away by the mood of the students that they didn't even seem to care that she wasn't human. So when her partner was just keeping his eyes on the struggling Death Stalker, the current atmosphere was enough to fuel a bit of courage into her to talk to the hooded teen without going embarrassed. "Kouya, everyone's moving, we should go as well."

The male teen's eyes left the Grimm and turned towards his partner, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "I know, but I'm taking the rear, just in case."

Velvet was about to question why, but held herself. He was her partner now, meaning that she should trust his decisions. If they were going to work together, they should start doing it sooner rather than later.

With her mind made up, she nodded to herself. "I'll join you."

Kouya raised a surprised brow as he looked at the determined Faunus. Her eyes were shining fiercely compared to the shy and timid rabbit that he met earlier. For a moment he thought that she might have been a different person.

He huffed in amusement and was slightly proud for his skittish partner in finding a bit of back bone. "Then I'll be in your care."

* * *

Ten teens ran through the Emerald Forest, coming out into an area filled with structures similar to the temple where they took their Relics from. Pillars covered in moss and littered with crack stood tall after what was probably decades or centuries old. Unfortunately the uncovered area made it easy for the Nevermore to spot them from the air.

Five pairs hid behind the fallen structures that littered in the ruins. The Nevermore soared above their heads and perched itself on top of one of the pillars that was closest to the cliffs, barring the way for the students to climb.

"Well, _that's_ great!" Yang muttered in annoyance.

Velvet and the rest who had better hearing suddenly looked behind them where the Death Stalker smashed its way through the trees and was crawling its way towards them. It roared as it snapped it's gigantic pincer claws.

"Ah, man, **run**!" Jaune cried out as he and the rest of the teens moved out of their covers and took their chances to the perched Grimm.

The Nevermore noticed the teens moving towards it and flapped it's wings to take flight. Everyone was moving as fast as they could and were keeping an eye on the airborne Grimm. With a loud caw the monster flapped its wings harder in preparation for an attack.

The teen in the green oriental clothes quickly took notice of this. "Nora, distract it!"

Laughing out in glee, the girl stepped out in the open just as the Grimm fired off a barrage of feathers. The students all took cover while the bubbly girl expertly dodged and braved the onslaught, taking out the grenade launcher strapped on her back.

Pink colored grenade shells with heart shaped tops flew at the flying Grimm, where they exploded into pink colored lighting discharges that sent the avian monster into a retreat for the moment.

Coming up behind the girl while using the discharge noises of her weapon, the Death Stalker reared it's stinger up and prepared to impale Nora from behind.

Two figures blurred upon the reeling Grimm with another figure doubling back from the rest of the group and shooting off like a bullet. Ren and Blake slashed at the shell of the monster, startling it enough to loose momentum for it's stinger. The last blur made itself known as the hooded Amakusa when his armor covered foot, brimming with Aura, descended on the giant scorpion with enough force to make it stumble backwards.

Weiss glided close to the startled Nora and used her Glyph to aid her jump while carrying the ditzy girl. The scorpion roared and now set it's sight on the three teens that interfered in its attack.

Pyrrha stopped as the rest of the group hurried over a stone bridge sitting above a trench connecting to another ruin by the cliffs. She turned back to help those left behind in distracting the Death Stalker with her weapon-turned-rifle. "Go, go!"

Ren was using his Storm Flower to pepper the Grimm with bullets. Blake was doing the same with her Gambol Shroud, while Kouya was using himself as bait and kicking balls of raw energy from Piercing Veil whenever he jumps back to avoid an attack.

Velvet looked back a quarter way on the stone bridge, looking worriedly for her partner. "Kouya, come on!"

The hooded teen looked back to her after jumping away from the Grimm and nodded. He reared back and spun in place, gathering Aura in his legs and through Piercing Veil. He stopped and made a wide swing with his leg and sent a condensed ball of energy strong enough to make the Death Stalker skid back a bit. Everyone left behind took this opportunity to make a break for it and join the rest of the group on the bridge.

As the last of the ten teens made it to the bridge, the Dark Stalker roared in fury as the space on the old path was too narrow for it's legs to crawl on.

Yang and the more energetic teens of the bunch were already whooping in victory. The Death Stalker was left in the dust while the Nevermore was nowhere in sight. The old ruins would probably have tunnels that would lead them to the top of the cliffs safely, they only needed to find it.

As they made it halfway through the bridge, a loud and furious caw was their only warning until the missing Nevermore crashed itself on the old stone bridge.

"Velvet!"

The others had been caught unaware by the flying Grimm, but thanks to Velvet's better hearing and strength she able to hear the approach and push some of her comrades further up the bridge before it collapsed. Kouya did the same with his Semblance and pushed the others back near him to the other end of the bridge; closest to the Death Stalker.

The Faunus was left on the falling structure right after throwing Jaune and Nora by their armors and desperately trying to find purchase on the falling stones.

"Kouya!"

Hearing his partner's disappearing cry, the Amakusa turned back from the scorpion Grimm to find Velvet falling with half of what had been part of the bridge.

With no hesitation, he ran up to the edge of the broken bridge and dove down headfirst towards his partner, leaving Blake, Ren and Pyrrha to take care of the scorpion Grim by themselves.

Jaune had just recovered from his save and was coherent enough to witness his hooded friend dive down into the chasm. "Kouya, No!"

He ran up to the edge of the broken bridge to look for his friend and saw him reaching out for his falling partner. He was about to call out for help from the rest of the group but held himself. His friend was confident enough to follow his falling partner into the deep hole so he probably had a way to get back up.

He proven right with his assumption when Kouya had his partner in his arms. The hooded teen kicked both his legs downwards and his descent immediately stopped. He repeated the action again and propelled him and the Faunus to the side of the mountain where the Amakusa child began to run up to the side of the cliff, roaring all the way and leaving muffled booms in his wake.

With the safety of his friend secured, Jaune looked to where Ren, Blake and Pyrrha were battling the Death Stalker, keeping it at bay with a barrage of bullets and quick slashes.

The Arc lad calmed his breathing and looked on in determination at the three. His new friend had risked his life to save his partner. If he didn't do the same, then what does that say about him?

With his next move in mind, he regarded to Nora who had just come up beside him after getting pushed to safety by the Faunus girl.

"We gotta get over there! They need help!" the blond teen barked seriously. But he looked at the distance between the two broken ends of the bridge and grimaced. "But I can't make that jump."

Nora turned to look at him, then down at the broken part of the bridge and smiled diabolically back at the Arc. "Leave this to me!"

With Ruby, Yang and Weiss off the bridge and keeping the Nevermore distracted on the many column structures in the ruins, Nora happily knocked Jaune back with her grenade launcher and unfolded her weapon into it's Hammer form.

"Oof, wait!"

The Arc's cry was ignored as the girl jumped off the bridge and smashed her hammer by the broken edge, tilting the stone path and launching Jaune in a makeshift catapult. Nora stepped on her hammer and fired off a gigantic discharge from the head as the boy was launched, using the kinetic force of the blast to propel her over to where Ren and the others were fighting the Death Stalker.

The ditzy girl flew over the other teens and landed straight on the Grimm's shell, using her gained momentum to smash it's head to the ground with her weapon.

The Grimm took advantage of it's body's tilt. When it's tail was raised in the air as it's front end met the ground, it launched it's stinger towards the girl wielding the hammer.

In a display of quick reaction, Nora fired off another discharge from her hammer just as the tail was sent her way. She landed in front of the Death Stalker, but was forced to make another jump when the stinger reared back a second time and persisted on it's course towards her. She didn't see Blake in the path of her landing, and knocked into her accidentally, pushing the girl off the bridge.

Nora was about to call out an apology but was knocked to the side by Ren when the stinger came again.

* * *

Kouya had just landed back on one of the stone structures while carrying his shaken partner. He was panting lightly from the continuous use of his Semblance, coupled with the physical exertion of running up to a vertical surface. Not even his above average reserves would hold from that sprint up the mountain side.

"Are you alright, Velvet?" he asked the slightly shivering Faunus, placing her down on solid ground. He sat down for a moment to catch his breath, allowing his Aura to rest and regenerate some of it's lost power.

The Faunus girl took a few deep breaths to calm her nerve before looking at her partner. "I'm fine." She was grateful that there was someone had saved her. She didn't have anything immediate to help her when she fell, and most of it took time and would only push her to the sides of the cliffs with no way of climbing back up.

Both teens looked up and saw the rest of their group. Half of them were taking on one of the two giant Grimm. They looked at each other and nodded. Now wasn't the time to rest. They had to help.

Standing up, Velvet reached for her weapons and unfolded them into their dual pistol forms. Kouya flexed his legs and revved up the engine in his armored leggings.

The Faunus child jumped up using her race's impressive muscle strength and stood on one of the pillars of the ruins. She raised her guns and began to shower the Nevermore with a stream of bullets like she did in the temples.

The Amakusa teen made his way to the edge of what's left of the broken bridge and used his Semblance to launch himself towards the Death Stalker. Curling into a ball as he descended, he snapped his body straight and smashed both of his Aura covered heels on the shell of the scorpion.

* * *

Rubble scattered as a blur smashed on to the Death Stalker, forcing Jaune and the others to cover themselves. When the dust cleared and the monster roared, Kouya jumped back and joined the Arc and his group.

"You're okay!" cried the blond.

Turning his head slightly to acknowledge the lad, Kouya nodded and focused on the task at hand. Raising his fists up, he smashed them over the top of his armored calf. Their was an audible click, as if a hook had been unhinged.

"Let's end this, then."

The hooded teen began pumping as much Aura as he could into Piercing Veil. This time, however, there was no click that signified the limiter that was stopping the engine.

As more power built up in his armored legs, the blue lines that traced along it's edge began to turn red and steam started to emit from Piercing Veil.

"Jaune!" he addressed the teen. "I can only do this for so long until the heat starts eating through my custom-made pants. Let's hurry this up."

Looking at his friend, Jaune nodded and gained a determined glint, holding his shield up and facing the Death Stalker. "You heard him guys! Let's do this!"

* * *

Blake was the first to note the added barrage on the Nevermore. She looked at the source and smiled slightly when she spied a determined looking Faunus unleashing a number of powerful bullets at the flying Grimm.

Ruby, Yang, Weiss and she had been keeping the Nevermore at bay, with Blake utilizing her superior speed and Gambol Shroud to climb on the giant bird and slash at it's back before dismounting again.

She saw Velvet pause and reload her weapons. When she fired this time, however, ice seems to explode wherever the Nevermore was hit.

A look of realization suddenly appeared on the black-bowed girl's eyes. The reason that her earlier shots were so powerful was because she was using Fire-dust bullets. No wonder the boom was so loud and strong enough to push the Faunus back where she stood.

Talk about fire power.

Now though it looks like the girl was adding her own Aura in every shot. Blake wasn't sure what that was doing, but it seemed to be working since the Nevermore seems to falter whenever it was about to charge.

* * *

Velvet was panting lightly from where she stood on the pillar. It was really tiring for both her Aura and arms in keeping a non-stop barrage.

Thanks to her own Semblance, the bullets that she used with only a bit of dust in them was able make a bigger effect than they should. It was only thanks to that that she was able to economize her dust consumption while keeping her supplies on her budget. Dust was not cheap!

Support:

Her Semblance that enhances the effects of her Dust and Magic. A light from a tiny match stick, with the application of her Semblance, would turn into a roaring flame. Her Dust bullets were normally just as strong as a firework stick, but with her Semblance, she could make them as powerful as a dynamite.

Unfortunately, her Aura control wasn't helping her. She had a normal amount of Aura just like everyone else, but her control was so atrocious that she wastes more on one shot than she's supposed to. That had always been her problem.

"Ha!"

With a cry of exertion, she fired another shot and nailed the bird in the eye, partially blinding it as the bullet exploded and froze part of it's face.

The Nevermore cawed in fury and retreated for a moment, allowing the girls to catch their breath. Unfortunately the rabbit Faunus lost her footing and slipped off of the pillar and fell down towards the stone ruins.

"AHHHH- huh?"

Thankfully Blake had swung herself towards the Faunus and save her from a painful crash.

"Careful."

"Um... Thanks."

Just then a roar from the location of Kouya's group gathered the eyes of the five girl's battling the Nevermore.

* * *

Kouya panted heavily as he dodged yet another swipe from the Death stalker and a sting from it's tail. This battle was really taxing him. His physical abilities were being pushed to their limits as he kept himself close to the Grimm's striking distance while dodging every and all of it's attack towards him. His Aura was also gradually being depleted as he continued to pump a continuous supply of it to his legs.

Speaking of Piercing Veil, it was now something that his mother had dubbed as "Open Veil". With nothing stopping the continuous supply of Aura that he was forcing in, he had revved the legging's engine into overdrive that had turned most of it into an angry shade of red, blowing off steam whenever he moved.

His kicks were now enhanced with energy that burned anything that it touches. Unfortunately that did little to the scorpion's armored shell and claws. All he's done so far was paint it a few black foot marks where his kicks had connected and burned the outer shell to charcoal.

Worst of all he was getting angry.

He could practically hear the Mars in him raging all the while when his kicks connected but didn't seem to do anything. It was really, _really_ pissing him off.

He could have crushed the Death Stalker with his Semblance with one high, gigantic Stomp from the air. Unfortunately that would require an AoE so massive that it would probably squash Jaune and his group as well. If only they didn't have the deep trench behind them and the Grimm blocking the way to the open space, he could have asked the group to give him room for one big attack. Once again, not for the first time, he was cursing his highly volatile Semblance.

It was a Semblance meant for Grimm mob control, and for someone who worked alone or with little back-up. He could force a kinetic motion on any surface of his target directed by his touch, but rarely control the amount of force that go with it. Unless he had enough space, accumulated potential energy, and momentum, he could only make his Semblance attacks just as strong as his stationary kicks.

It was frustrating, but that was why he always curls up when he uses his Semblance kicks, to gather enough force to power his attacks. But even then, it's aftereffects were never controlled and usually makes a crater around the center target.

Now back to the current predicament. He could have probably crushed the scorpion Grimm, but the aftereffects would probably squash Jaune and the group.

He probably didn't need anyone to point it out to him, but he could already feel the unnatural throbbing of his temple pumping too much blood into his brain and was probably painting his sclera red. Another Mars symptom that he inherited from his mother along with it's partner: Rage.

He could feel that his heightened emotions was helping his Aura regenerate quicker. The depletion was reduced to negligible levels that he could probably last longer now that he was truly and utterly _pissed._

Screw the Amakusa persona! He was bringing out his mother's legacy now, as a Mars, a name taken from the god of war!

Kouya had just retreated again and was about to get smashed in by a claw when Jaune jumped to his side and deflected the Grimm with his shield. "This thing just won't let up!"

"Then I'll make it!"

Startled by the supposedly calm teen's loud exclamation, Jaune and the rest of the group looked at Kouya in surprise.

Kouya's hooded head turned to the rest of them, showing his now bloodshot and rage filled eyes, surprising them even further. "I'm going to make an opening." was all he said before he proceeded to engage the Death Stalker once again.

The blond knight shook off the surprise, promising to ask about his friend's health after dealing with the Grimm. He smashed his shield and sword together, breaking the trance that Kouya's eyes inflicted on the group. "You heard the man. Follow his lead!"

Ren, Nora and Pyrrha all nodded and readied their weapons as their hooded comrade charged at the scorpion monster.

The Grimm roared as Kouya approached at high speed. It sent out it's stinger only to be dodged when the teen swerved to the side and jumped in the air. The Death Stalker went to block the Amakusa- no, the Mar's- attack and push him back, but a sudden explosion when he made contact forced the creature back and left it in a daze.

Combined with the accumulated energy of the continuous flow of Aura and a sudden burst of his Semblance, Kouya unleashed all of Open Veil's power in a single dropkick, resulting in an explosion that would have cost him his legs were his armor any weaker.

The Grimm roared as it lost one of it's claws and bled on the ground. Kouya was left exhausted and numbed a few feet in front of the monster, where he lay on the ground staring at the sky.

Absently, his adrenaline filled mind informed him that Jaune and the rest had taken the opportunity to finish off the Grimm once an for all, with Nora nailing it's stinger on it's head with her hammer with the help of Pyrrha and Ren.

Still, he stayed in place and reveled in the blood pumping fiercely in his veins. He remembered that Velvet was still up against the Nevermore with the others, but for some reason he couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment.

This was how his Mars relatives felt after every battle. It was no wonder that they were usually so emotional and arrogant. It would probably take him a moment to calm down, but he didn't think that he would be fast enough to help the others when he did.

Still, Mars Mode was as intoxicating as ever.

* * *

Velvet looked on worriedly as her partner stayed on the ground and didn't move. His last attack scared her mostly since the explosion was loud enough that it even echoed down the chasm multiple times before disappearing in it's depths.

She released a sigh of relief when he raised an arm and waved, only for it to fall back beside him limply once again.

The Nevermore was circling around and was dive-bombing randomly in an effort to get the ice off it's face. It even tried to rub it against the cliff side, but still didn't work.

Velvet and the other girl's took this chance to reload and rest, as well as keep an eye out for a possible escape. But with the others still of the other side of the chasm, they wouldn't leaving without them.

"Wow. Who knew that foxy was pretty explosive?"

The blonde beauty and the rest of the girls had gathered together to watch how the others take down the scorpion Grimm. With the Nevermore still thoroughly distracted, they could afford this kind of reprieve. They were highly impressed by the group's coordination and even Kouya's reckless assault.

"Not now, Yang." her red cloaked sister groaned in exasperation. "We still have our own problem to deal with."

"Should we ask for help?" Blake asked. Since the other group had finished their own battle, maybe they could provide back up?

"I highly doubt that Amakusa would be of any more use." The Schnee heiress piped in indignantly. She had seen the last attack that the hooded teen executed, and thought that it was a miracle that he was still in one piece. "The rest of them already look dead on their feet and would probably just get in the way if they joined in."

"That's harsh, princess." Yang pointed out irritably at the snobby girl.

"It's heiress, actually." Blake corrected. "And unfortunately, she's right. The most they could do is give us support fire, but the Grimm would most likely just shower them with feathers until they stop. Also, only Nora and Pyrrha seem to be the only ones even capable of support, with the rest either too tired or lack the weapons to do so."

All were suddenly thinking about Jaune and his Shield and Sword.

Ruby shook away the traitorous thoughts to her friend and looked at everyone else. "We need a plan."

The girls all made a sound of confirmation, but nothing else.

"Well, unless you have a cannon hidden under that cloak of yours, there's no way for us to shoot that thing out of the sky." The heiress piped in.

The younger girl slumped and nodded. Their weapons were mostly meant for close combat, save for Velvet's pistols. But those weren't enough to put that Nevermore down. The lacked the firepower end the Grimm in the sky.

She almost wished she could use Kouya as a human cannonball to shoot the flying Grimm down. Maybe he would have brought it down with that last attack of his. But seeing his current state at the moment, she was sure that it was a one shot deal.

If only there was something that could hit it hard enough to-!

Wait.

Why were they just thinking of shooting it down?

A sudden idea came to the youngest girl of the group as she looked at the Faunus girl. "Velvet, right?"

The girl straightened when Ruby called her name, looking at the girl before nodding her head. "Yes, can I help you?"

The young girl in the similarly colored cloak nodded and looked at the girl's pistols, she remembered that they were the only ones that were accurate enough to land decent hits and were even able to make the Grimm falter in it's flight.

"Tell me, do you have anything that could probably kill that Nevermore with one shot?"

The Faunus looked startled at the question before contemplating on it for a moment. She reached back behind her and took out two yellow colored magazine clips for her pistols and nodded.

"I have these."

"WHAT!?"

The Faunus cringed when the heiress' word startled her and the rest of the group. Weiss looked positively murderous as she looked on to the scared rabbit.

"You had these all this time and you didn't even use them?!" They had been struggling for the last couple of minutes, and there was actually someone that could have taken it down?! Weiss shook in anger. She was having a harder time to control her emotions now because of how tired she was.

"Cool it, princess. She probably has a good explanation for that." Yang went in between the two, sensing that things were starting to escalate into territory that they simply had no time at the moment. She could understand why the heiress was angry, but she didn't peg the Faunus to be someone who'd hold back on them in a situation like this.

"As if!" the heiress exclaimed, glaring daggers at the busty blonde. "This fight could have ended much quicker if only she had used whatever those are sooner." Her mood was already sour when the Grimm kept flying around them like a giant housefly that just didn't know when to die. Now the Faunus was presenting something that could have zapped the annoying thing and end it for them quickly. Why didn't she?

"I didn't mean to-" The Faunus girl tried to interject, but was silenced again when the girl in white leveled her hateful eyes back to her.

"Quiet, you! For god's sake, why were you even holding out on us! Were you waiting for something to happen?!"

"Hey, back off." Blake also stepped forward beside Yang and covered the heiress' view of the rabbit Faunus. "You're taking things way too far."

"Things have already _gone_ too far!" the irritable girl exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "We're stranded here with that airborne grim reaper breathing down our necks, we're low on supply, exhausted in both body and Aura, and we haven't even finished the test yet!"

"_That's_ what you're worried about?" Yang asked incredulously with her partner. "The stupid test?"

"It's what we're here for in the first place!" the heiress insisted. "If she hadn't held back, then maybe we'd already been through with this!"

"Like you're one to talk," the blonde had finally had enough and went up to the girl's face, looking down on her from their difference in height, "she was a better help than your lousy shots!"

"She has PISTOLS!" Weiss exclaimed. "WHO do you THINK would have better aim?!"

"ENOUGH!"

All at once, everyone was silenced. Ruby had been listening quietly but this was taking them nowhere. It was only thanks to her cry that everyone stopped talking.

Poor Velvet had stepped away from the group and wasn't even looking at them anymore. The Faunus sought the eyes of her partner, who she now realized was the only one close by to actually acknowledge her as a person, to tell her that she was needed.

Her fear of humans came back to the front of her mind again and the fragile bond of camaraderie formed from the battling together had all but shattered. She remembered where she was now, who and what was talking to her. They were humans, most of them were. It was only Kouya's words in the forest that made her seek him out right now, to assure her that there was at least one human who believed in her. Blake, she didn't know why, was hiding her Faunus features, and Velvet would be damned before she sold out any of her kind.

She didn't want to be here anymore. She wanted to be by her partner's side, giving her subtle and not-so subtle encouragements, where she was sure that there wouldn't be anyone cruel to bring her down. But the distance between her and Kouya was too much at her current state. She was too tired to make that jump and to make that climb. All she could do now was just sit in a corner and hope that they stop focusing on her. She'll just say that she was too exhausted now, that she'll just be a burden and leave the rest to the humans and Blake.

Yes. They'd probably leave her alone if she just keep her head down and stay quiet.

"Velvet?"

The Faunus girl looked up to meet the eyes of the human, the girl with the red cloak and hood.

"So, could you? Could you really take down that Grimm with those clips?"

The rabbit girl looked at her straight for a moment before looking back down to the ground. Her eyes were slightly dilated and her hair was shadowing her face. Her rabbit ears were now standing lower, more submissive, now than they had been in battle. All in all she looked like an abandoned child who was too scared to even look at anyone straight in the face.

"I'm sorry, it was a lie. It probably won't even hurt it. I'm sorry."

The rest of the girls all flinched at the rather dead monotonous tone that came with the Faunus' words.

They all knew that Faunus were never really the favored race in Remnant, and that most grew up in a bad environment. They had heard that there were those who simply endured and kept their emotions bottled up, and that most of them broke even before getting set back to the Menagerie.

But hearing about it and surprisingly meeting one was a completely different matter.

Unlike some of the luckier ones, Velvet didn't have a _Best Friend_ or a _Childhood Friend_ that she was able to confide to with all of her woes. She had friends, yes, but because of her shy and quiet nature, she had never really interacted with them properly. All she did was stay by their side and follow whatever they did. But with them gone...

"Hey, Velv." Yang tried to reach out to the girl, but when she took a step forward, the Faunus took a step back. She briefly saw the dilated eyes shift to Blake for a moment, but quickly went back down as if they had never happened.

* * *

"What do you think happened?"

Jaune's question had also been playing in the mind of the Amakusa. He had seen the interaction, they even heard the muted yelling, but what was prominent in his mind at the moment was the look of utter despair on his partner.

His blond friend had helped him to sit up and see how the other half of their group was fairing with the flying Grimm. It was only after Velvet shot it in the face that they were able to rest, even for a short while. But they still had to get to the top of the cliffs.

He could already feel his legs back and was just sitting down to let his nearly depleted Aura reserves to refill. It was probably only a fifth of his full capacity. Enough to move about, but not enough to join the battle.

He was even forced to use Mars Mode.

That was going to be _S__ore_ for the next couple of days. His body would recover quickly, but the strain on his Aura was going to leave him feeling heavy for a while.

Forcing his Soul like he did with his Aura regeneration would kill most people if they used it more than once. But like the name and the people who came up with it, Mars Mode was a common skill to all who shared the Mars blood.

To the berserkers who revel in adrenaline like an addiction, people of the Mars were forced to adapt to their peculiar trait. It was the reason why they had such inhuman reserves. It's like their traits were passed down to their offspring, both body and soul.

Unfortunately he was only half Mars, which meant using their skills had tolls. For him it was the 'Heavy Burden', which was common to all the half Mars. There are those with different tolls, but they were minor compared to the most common 'Burden'.

His blood was flowing normally again, but his red sclera would take some time and a few eye-drops to get rid off. It was the sign of using Mars Mode coupled with the usual battle rage. It was also called 'God of War Mode' by the other, more flashy, Mars.

"Help me up, will you?"

His blond friend complied and lent a shoulder for him to lean on. Even though he could feel his legs, they were still stiff from the numbing explosion. The heat from the Open Veil was also making it uncomfortable, but thanks to the Ice Dust capsules that served as the cooling/ventilation system for his armor, the heat was slowly fading away.

But his range attacks were locked for the moment until all of his system was cool.

He flexed his legs and grimaced at how hard it was to bend his knees. He didn't know why that was but it definitely wasn't good.

Off to the side, Pyrrha was keeping her eye out for the struggling Nevermore that was still taking it's time to rid off the ice that covered part of it's face. Nora was dotting over Ren who was looking rather exasperated from the girl's frantic treatment.

"You all wait here, I'll see what the problem is."

Kouya lifted his arm off his friend but was forced back down when Jaune refused to let him go.

"Whoa, whoa. Who said you're going anywhere?"

Pyrrha had noticed the hooded teen standing and had heard Jaune's remark. She walked towards them with a worried look on her face. "He's right, Kouya, after that last attack of yours, it's a miracle that you can still stand."

In response, he merely grunted and knocked on the armored surface of his legs. "Nigh indestructible. Strong enough to even withstand the crushing pincers of a Death Stalker."

It sounded like a boast, but even so they were hoping that it was true. For his sake.

"Even so, you shouldn't be moving too much." the other exhausted teen called out from where he was resting. He was pushing back Nora's face when the girl started getting too close for his comfort.

"That's right!" the bubbly girl cheered happily, not even minding that her face was being pushed back by her friend's hand. "Doctor Nora says that you should rest!"

Kouya shook his head negatively and released himself from Jaune's arm. He forced his legs to carry his whole weight and took a moment to regain his balance. "I'm sorry, but I really need to know what's happening over there and why my partner looks like it's the end of the world."

The other teens were silent. They had also noticed the girl's grim features and were wondering why she was looking like that.

"Still, how can you even get to the other side?" Jaune asked.

"My Semblance." the hooded teen answered simply, slowly making his way closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Aren't you exhausted? Will you even make it?" Pyrrha asked in concern, walking beside him along with Jaune on his other side.

"I only need a sliver of my Aura with the amount of force that I need to generate." Kouya answered simply. He had trained hard to control the sizes of his blasts, thus gained better control of his Aura consumption. It wasn't perfect, but it was always enough.

"Well, at least we'll give you a boost." Jaune looked back to Nora. The girl had heard the unasked request and bobbed her head affirmatively.

"That would be appreciated."

Jaune nodded and stepped back along with Pyrrha. Nora popped up in front of him, who he simply sent an amused smile to, before offering his gauntlet covered hands.

"Alley-oop!"

Grabbing the teen's hands, she spun a few times in place before she launched him into the air and over to where Velvet's group were gathered.

As he reached the apex of the arc he curled himself into a ball and blasted a kinetic explosion under his feet, gaining him more distance.

"Kuh-!"

He cringed when the joints of his knees locked in place and ruined his aerodynamic form, causing him to fall short of his intended target.

* * *

The girls had all heard the boom of Kouya's Semblance and turned just in time to see the teen barely catching the ledge of the stone platform where Ruby and the rest were gathered.

"Kouya!"

Both Yang and Ruby cried in alarm as they rushed over to the hanging boy. They had been too engrossed in thinking up a new plan since Velvet didn't seem inclined to help them anymore. It was only thanks to the Amakusa's use of his Semblance that they even noticed that he was coming.

"Hi- ugh... a little help, please?"

The blonde had been the first to reach him, with Ruby helping to pull him up and dragging him to a safer distance away from a horrific fall.

"What are you even doing here?" the heiress asked irritably. It was bad enough that one of them was refusing to cooperate, now they have a dead weight to look out for.

Kouya rolled on his back and was cringing every time he tried to bend his legs. There was definitely something wrong with them. "I'm here for my partner."

At hearing him address her, Velvet's rabbit ears perked up for a moment.

The girl was standing behind the others, a few feet away. He could tell that she was trying to keep her distance, but he couldn't tell why.

"Well, you can have her." The heiress huff as she crossed her arms and turned away. "She says that she's too exhausted now and that she couldn't help anymore."

Kouya looked over to Velvet and saw no change in the girl's demeanor. He didn't like the Velvet that he was seeing. She looked so dead.

He sighed and pulled back his hood to show his very displeased looking expression. The girls' cringed at the blood red sclera that surrounded his dark colored eyes. "Tell me what happened."

"What?" The girl in white blinked at the sudden demand while the rest of the girls looked on.

"Why was there yelling earlier? Why did Yang and Weiss look like they wanted to gut each other? Why did everyone look like they were focused mostly on Weiss? And why the Hell does my partner look so grim?"

He allowed his displeasure to bleed out from his voice. A few slivers of his rage still lingered in his system and slowly building up from the current situation. He was trying hard to push it down, but the expression on the Faunus girl made it hard to do.

"Tell me what started this." he raised an arm and gestured to Velvet. He reached out for the girl in his prone position but she didn't move from her spot away from the group.

Yang snorted and pointed her thumb at the Schnee heiress. "Little Miss Dry Ice here started steaming when Velv took out some magazine clips for her gun that _might_ have been enough to take out the overgrown bird."

When the attention was switched to her, the girl in white merely huffed away in return.

"And that started this whole mess?" asked the Amakusa incredulously. He looked at Weiss with a face painted with disbelief before glaring at her with his Mars influenced eyes. "You're an idiot, Snow Flake."

"Wha-! How dare you!?" the girl cried out indignantly.

"Shut up and listen!" Kouya's tone rose as his Aura regeneration quickened once again. He could feel it fixing whatever was wrong with his legs so he took this opportunity to sit up and point his hateful glare at the white girl.

The Schnee heiress wisely kept her mouth shut. If she hadn't, Kouya would have socked her in the face in his current state of mind.

"Do you know how bad the Faunus are treated?" he asked carefully. "Think about that and how long it's been like that. Imagine how they grew up in Faunus hating world. Imagine how they are treated, how humans talk to them, what everyday was like for them. Did you notice how they kept to themselves at school? How they gathered in one corner while the rest of the humans littered about?"

He looked at the heiress pointedly, the throbbing in his temple was back and his eyes were probably bleeding deeper and deeper into red.

"How about Velvet personally? Do you know her? Is she someone from your old school? Were you given permission to start yelling at her like you were her parent? Tell me, Weiss Schnee, what right do you have to talk to others like that?"

The girl's stand was firm but her eyes went anywhere but the boy's. She had let her emotions get the better of her and made her lash out at the Faunus.

She didn't need someone from the Amakusa to remind her about the lives of the demi-humans, she'd heard plenty enough from the news and how their kind protested about the unequal treatment. She definitely didn't need anyone to tell her about it, and she already saw first hand at school how Faunus interact with the humans.

Perhaps she may have been wrong about the Velvet girl, but that still didn't excuse her for holding out on them. She made sure to remind him of just that.

"Your partner still didn't tell us that she had something to take care of our problem." the heiress shot back, saying it with absolute conviction that she wasn't in the wrong on this one.

"Did you hear her reason?" Kouya asked calmly, his Aura capacity already back a quarter of his full reserve.

The Schnee bit her tongue at that. She definitely didn't, and she was starting to regret losing her temper earlier.

The Amakusa teen breathed in deeply, calming down his growing temper. He looked at his partner who was still away from the group, but at least she regained some light in her eyes. That was good.

"Velvet. Tell me, why didn't you use those clips earlier on?" Kouya asked with the softest tone he could muster at his current state. He wanted a partner who was comfortable around him and other humans. He was not about to let some snobby little rich bitch ruin that for him.

Velvet looked into his bloodshot eyes, his sclera were now completely red with no longer any trace of white in them. Even so, his eyes tried to look kind. The kindest he could do with them. But she could see the rage under his stare.

It wasn't directed at her, it was for the heiress.

So, she wasn't wrong. There _was _a human present that she could rely on. She was thankful that it was her partner, and she was more thankful that he was _her_ partner. She was glad that she met him._  
_

She opened her mouth but hesitated. She looked at all the other humans and her hesitation grew.

Kouya waited for her to speak. He saw her mouth open, but quickly closed once again. When it didn't seem like she was going to say anything he sighed.

In return the Schnee snorted. "See?"

Kouya dragged his hand over his face and sighed deeply. His temper had changed from Rage to Cold Fury, and with it came indifference.

"What I see, Ms. Schnee, is a girl too scared to speak her mind." slowly, he clapped his hands in a slow, mocking rhythm. "Congratulations Weiss Schnee. You have effectively intimidated a person enough to force them to hold their silence. Truly, the oppression of the Schnee to the Faunus is a sight to behold."

He ignored the girl's indignant cry in favor of getting his legs back under him. The pain had receded somewhat, and he could probably walk again.

He politely declined Yang and Ruby's help and slowly, carefully walked past Velvet to rest against one of the broken pillars.

"You all should get ready." he warned. "The Nevermore looks like it's chipped off most of the ice by now."

Blake, Yang, Ruby and Weiss turned to the flying Grimm, but were confused when it's face was still partially covered with ice. Velvet ignored the monster in favor of her partner and slowly made her way beside him.

"We still have a few minutes." muttered the Schnee.

In response, Kouya called out to his partner. "Velvet?"

The Faunus opened up part of her cloak and pulled out one of her pistols. With a pull of the trigger, she fired off in the direction of the Grimm without even looking.

Stomachs dropped as the bullet went straight to the Nevermore's face. The resounding boom from the impact was strong enough to echo back to them.

Four girls slowly turned to the Faunus who was now kneeling down by her partner's legs, pressing her hands down on his knee and using her magic to help him heal.

"Umm..." Ruby asked hesitantly. "What was that?"

Kouya turned his indifferent expression towards the sky before telling the girl. "There are some things about shy people that you all should know about."

When the smoke that covered the Grimm's head cleared, it's face was made visible and the lack of ice made the others pale.

Uncaring of the Grimm, Kouya continued. "The ones who are usually most quiet and nice..." He turned his head to face the heiress. "They're usually are the ones who hold a grudge."

A Caw from the Nevermore made the four girls leap into action as a shower of giant feathers rained down on where they had been standing. Kouya and Velvet ignored the battle as they were protected behind the stone pillar.

"Thank you."

* * *

The Faunus' soft words reached Kouya's ears thanks to his better hearing. He sighed as all of his temper subsided. He was already feeling the strain of his Aura and his body felt so heavy.

Without even thinking, he reached up with one hand and started to gently rub the girl's Faunus ears. He felt her tense but ignored it and continued to rub. It was a habit that he developed thanks to his non-human friends back in his village. It was both therapeutic and relaxing, for him and his friends.

The girl relaxed when she realized that he wasn't pulling and was unconsciously tilting her head closer to his hand. Her Faunus parts were very sensitive, and needed to be handled with care since most people don't know what it was like to have such long, soft ears. But Kouya's fingers were surprisingly soothing and seemed to know just how hard to press on what part.

She slowly started to relax and began to lean over, where Kouya could actually reach far enough to start rubbing her other ear. They ignored the sounds of battle behind the pillar and just enjoyed their bonding time together.

There was rarely any animal back where Kouya lived, being in the middle of Grimm infested forest. There were only a few houses that had pets, but thanks to his training schedule he couldn't even find the time to fascinate on the mysterious creatures.

That left him with his Faunus friends. He liked touching their animal parts when they were on break, since they were the closest things to an animal that he could reach.

The guys were never fond of him doing the petting, but the girls never really minded. Normally a boy his age should be embarrassed about touching girl parts, even if they were usually just ears and tails, but his fascination with animals just made him forget about his embarrassment in favor of touching them.

It also helped that it made him and the one he was petting to relax. Weekdays' worth of training was just that hard on everyone.

"Velvet?" the girl hummed in return. She was sitting down and leaning close to him, her hands still busy healing his knees. "There's a trait about the Amakusa that you should know about."

"Hmm?"

The boy continued his massage and started rubbing the tips of her ears. The girl actually started to coo at him when he did.

"The Amakusa are very shy people." Kouya began. "Some of us even grew up while covering our faces. Even my dad never goes off to work without putting on his fox themed mask."

The girl hummed and nodded, her eyelids slowly starting to droop as the day's excitement finally caught up with her.

"We hardly make the first contact when we make friends." he continued. "It's mostly strangers who would strike conversation first because of curiosity."

Velvet placed her hands over the other knee now, satisfied with her work on the first.

"But when we do let other people into our lives, we get possessive of them." one of his hands went down and started to stroke the girl's hair, relaxing her further. "And when I say 'Possessive', I mean 'Yandere' kind of possessive."

The girl still hummed at the revelation, getting the Amakusa snort in amusement.

"But our Yandere tendencies only come up when the person we care about is hurt in any way." Kouya started grinning guiltily after remembering what he wanted to do with the humans in school who wanted to kill the pair of Faunus that he met. "We become very protective to the point that we maim the ones responsibly for their pain."

Soft snores caught the boy's ears as the girl started to lean on him completely, her hand still on his knee and glowing softly from her magic. He looked down and saw that Velvet had fallen asleep thanks to his ministrations. He smiled softly and wrapped the unconscious girl in his arm like a protective blanket.

"You're my partner now, and even with our brief time together you've become someone important." He gently removed the girl's hands on his knee and shifted her to a more comfortable position. "You may not be able to hear it now, but let me still say it, something that the Amakusa have always delivered."

Kouya started to hum a tune, a soft and soothing tune. He swayed slightly and rocked the girl gently.

_Don't wo~rry, I've got you;_

_Nothing will ever harm you~._

_I'm close by, I'll stay here;_

_Through all things, I will be near._

_Close your eyes~,_

_Don't you cry~._

"Love's around you. And that's a promise... till I die"

* * *

**AN: The deleted reason why Velvet's magazine would have worked if I didn't let Weiss let her frustrations be heard.**

Velvet's Weapons are from Blazblue's Noel Vermillion.

Velvet Scarlatina and Noel Vermillion. Scarlet and Vermillion... coincidence?

The Magazine clips that Velvet showed RWBY were Lightning-dust Bullets, where if she used up every Aura that she could, it would have probably been enough to pierce the Nevermore through.

Unfortunately the charged recoil was too strong for her even if she was at full strength. She would have needed a clear shot while the bird was stationary for it to work or else it would just swerve off course and leave her like a sitting duck from the drain of her Aura.

The song that Kouya was singing was a verse from Gold, a RWBY ost, with the last line changed to make it so that it was a promise instead.


End file.
